I Did Not Know That...

Harlequin-type ichthyosis (also harlequin ichthyosis, ichthyosis congenita, Ichthyosis fetalis, keratosis diffusa fetalis, and Harlequin fetus[1]:562), a skin disease, is the most severe form of congenital ichthyosis, characterized by a thickening of the keratin layer in fetal human skin. In sufferers of the disease, the skin contains massive, diamond-shaped scales, and tends to have a reddish color. In addition, the eyes, ears, mouth, and other appendages may be abnormally contracted. The scaly keratin greatly limits the child's movement. Because the skin is cracked where normal skin would fold, it is easily pregnable by bacteria and other contaminants, resulting in serious risk of fatal infection.

Sufferers are known as harlequin fetuses, harlequin babies, or harlequins.

The harlequin-type designation comes from both the baby's apparent facial expression and the diamond-shape of the scales (resembling the costume of Arlecchino), which are caused by severe hyperkeratosis. The disease can be diagnosed in the uterus by way of fetal skin biopsy or by morphologic analysis of amniotic fluid cells obtained by amniocentesis. In addition, doctors can now usually recognize common features of the disease through ultrasound, and follow up with 3D ultrasound to diagnose the condition.

Cheney Ordered CIA to Lie to Congress

From New York Times

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.

Mr. Panetta, who ended the program when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, briefed the two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day.

Efforts to reach Mr. Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.

The question of how completely the C.I.A. informed Congress about sensitive programs has been hotly disputed by Democrats and Republicans since May, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the agency of failing to reveal in 2002 that it was waterboarding a terrorism suspect, a claim Mr. Panetta rejected.

The law requires the president to make sure the intelligence committees “are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity.” But the language of the statute, the amended National Security Act of 1947, leaves some leeway for judgment, saying such briefings should be done “to the extent consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters.”

In addition, for covert action programs, a particularly secret category in which the role of the United States is hidden, the law says that briefings can be limited to the so-called Gang of Eight, consisting of the Republican and Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress and of their intelligence committees.

The disclosure about Mr. Cheney’s role in the unidentified C.I.A. program comes a day after an inspector general’s report underscored the central role of the former vice president’s office in restricting to a small circle of officials knowledge of the National Security Agency’s program of eavesdropping without warrants, a degree of secrecy that the report concluded had hurt the effectiveness of the counterterrorism surveillance effort.

An intelligence agency spokesman, Paul Gimigliano, declined on Saturday to comment on the report of Mr. Cheney’s role.

Figures that the Dick would be involved somehow.

Driving the Peterbilt Commentary: Numbers 28 and 29

Numbers 28:

I hate weeks like this. In this chapter, God goes over the whole animal sacrifice thing, again. Just skip it.

Numbers 29:

And this chapter just continues from the last chapter. More animal sacrifice talk. Skip it, too.

The Logic of Mandated Health Insurance Coverage

Requiring people to carry health insurance is one of the ideas being discussed to help bring the cost of health insurance down. We already know that many young, healthy, people choose to not buy health insurance for themselves based on the reasoning that A) they are not going to be sick B) they rather use the money for other things and C) if they do get sick, it will be the type of sickness they can pay for easily out of pocket. If these young, healthy, non-insured were forced by the government to purchase health insurance, their premiums would be used to subsidize the less healthy, older, already insured. Government mandates take from the young and healthy and give to the old and sick, with a wee percentage (5%? 10%? 25%?) going to fatten the profit margins of the insurance companies.

When put like this, of course, it sounds like an awful idea. How dare we even think of doing this to young people?

Well, we dare for one reason: if the young, healthy, uninsured miscalculate and get too sick, they are entitled to get the medical care they need and stick the insured with the bill through hospital and doctor cost-shifting.

Observe: Joe Jock, healthy 25 year old O.S.U. student, chooses not to carry health insurance. One day, walking across High Street, he is hit by a car, breaking both his legs. Ouch! The ambulance takes him to the hospital where they are forced to treat him, despite his not having insurance. The bill? $25,000. Double Ouch! Joe can't pay, of course. Who would? So, the hospital, in order to recoup it's losses, raises the bill for medical care for all it's insured patients. Triple Ouch!

So, when the young and healthy gamble by not having insurance, it is not a pure gamble because they know that if their gamble is a loss, someone else, the insured, pick up the tab. In fact, it's a pretty good deal NOT to have health insurance when you're young, for just this reason. In fact, I went many years without health insurance for just this reason.

We could, of course, change the parameters of the gamble by simply ending all requirements that hospitals treat people who comes through the door without proof of insurance. We choose not to do this because most people wish to avoid the rather unsightly mess a pile of uninsured, broken bodies lying outside hospital ER doors would make under these changes. Imagine, poor, uninsured Joe, dragging himself down the street begging for someone to treat his injured, mangled legs. Fuck off, Joe, you should have bought the health insurance.

Just kidding, Joe. You were young and irresponsible, but we'll get you fixed right up.

So, because it is possible for the uninsured to force others to pay their medical care, it is logical to force the uninsured to carry insurance in order to prevent this from happening.

But, let's look at it in another way, because beating dead horses is what I do.

We require people to carry auto insurance. But not all auto insurance, just liability insurance. If you are uninsured, and hit my car, and do not have the money to pay to fix my car out of your pocket, I am forced to pay for your negligence by paying to have my car fixed myself. That is unfair. So, we passed mandatory liability to prevent it.

What we do not have is forced collision insurance. Collision insurance fixes your own vehicle if you have an accident. If you hit my car, and you do not have collision insurance, and you cannot afford out of pocket to fix your car, you are shit out of luck. Your car does not get fixed. That is fair.

Now, imagine if the government told all auto-body shops that they had to fix all cars brought to their facility, regardless of whether the car owner had insurance or could pay for the repairs or not. The auto-body shops would have to raise the cost of repairs to everyone else in order to stay in business. Under those circumstance, the uninsured motorist would be able to force the cost of a bad gamble (not having collision coverage) onto others. Which is, again, how hospitals are forced to operate. Totally unfair.

But, there is a problem with the above analysis: the insurance company profit. Why should the healthy, uninsured be forced to inflate the profit margins of insurance companies? They should be forced to carry insurance only in order to prevent cost-shifting, not to subsidize health insurance companies.

A government-provided non-profit option for health insurance would prevent this profit-taking. So, if we are going to mandate health insurance, we should also provide a non-profit insurance option. This also insures that we get the full subsidizing effect of the premiums, as well.

Kurds Make Claim To Iraqi Land and Oil

From New York Times


BAGHDAD — With little notice and almost no public debate, Iraq’s Kurdish leaders are pushing ahead with a new constitution for their semiautonomous region, a step that has alarmed Iraqi and American officials who fear that the move poses a new threat to the country’s unity.

The new constitution, approved by Kurdistan’s parliament two weeks ago and scheduled for a referendum this year, underscores the level of mistrust and bad faith between the region and the central government in Baghdad. And it raises the question of whether a peaceful resolution of disputes between the two is possible, despite intensive cajoling by the United States.

The proposed constitution enshrines Kurdish claims to territories and the oil and gas beneath them. But these claims are disputed by both the federal government in Baghdad and ethnic groups on the ground, and were supposed to be resolved in talks begun quietly last month between the Iraqi and Kurdish governments, sponsored by the United Nations and backed by the United States. Instead, the Kurdish parliament pushed ahead and passed the constitution, partly as a message that it would resist pressure from the American and Iraqi governments to make concessions.

...

The Obama administration, which is gradually withdrawing American troops from Iraq, was surprised and troubled by the Kurdish move. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., sent to Iraq on July 2 for three days, criticized it in diplomatic and indirect, though unmistakably strong, language as “not helpful” to the administration’s goal of reconciling Iraq’s Arabs and Kurds, in an interview with ABC News.

Mr. Biden said he wanted to discuss the proposed constitution with the Kurdish leadership in person but could not fly to Kurdistan because of sandstorms. Instead he spoke to Kurdish leaders by telephone on Tuesday, and Christopher R. Hill, the new ambassador in Baghdad, met with them in Kurdistan on Wednesday.

American diplomatic and military officials have said the potential for a confrontation with the Kurds has emerged as a threat as worrisome to Iraq’s fate as the remnants of the insurgency.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is already not on speaking terms with the Kurdish region’s president, Massoud Barzani. Iraqi political leaders have vociferously denounced the constitution as a step toward splintering Iraq.

It's none of the American government's business if the Kurds become independent or not. It is up to the Iraqis, Kurds, Sunni and Shiite, to create for themselves the country they wish to become. We should stay the hell out of it.

C.I.A. Lied To Congress Since 2001

From Daily Kos and Washington Post


Four months after he was sworn in, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta learned of an intelligence program that had been hidden from Congress since 2001, a revelation that prompted him to immediately cancel the initiative and schedule a pair of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill.

The next day, June 24, Panetta informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the program and the action he had taken, according to Democratic and Republican members of the panels.

The incident has reignited a long-running dispute between congressional Democrats and the CIA, with some calling it part of a broader pattern of the agency withholding information from Congress. Some Republicans, meanwhile, privately questioned whether Panetta -- who has stood with CIA officers in a dispute with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) -- was looking to score points with House Democrats.

The program remains classified, and those knowledgeable about it would describe it only vaguely yesterday. Several current and former administration officials called it an "on-again, off-again" attempt to create a new intelligence capability and said it was related to the collection of information on suspected terrorists that was instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Congressional Republicans said no briefing about the program was required because it was not a major tool used against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. They accused Democrats of using the matter to divert attention away from Pelosi's accusation that CIA officials intentionally misled her in 2002 about the agency's interrogations of suspected terrorists.

But Democrats waved away such claims and said they may open a congressional investigation of the concealment of the program.

"Instructions were given not to brief Congress," Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said in an interview.

Small details of the Panetta briefing emerged earlier this week when Democrats from the House intelligence committee leaked letters that had been privately sent to the CIA director and the bipartisan House leadership. The CIA declined to comment yesterday, pointing to the statement it made Wednesday after six Democrats sent their letter to Panetta accusing the CIA of having "concealed significant actions."

Rep. Steven King: Bite Me, Again

From Media Matters


But in an interview with Radio Iowa yesterday, King offered a new explanation for his vote, complaining that the slave labor resolution wasn’t a “balanced depiction of history”:

KING: I would just add that there were about 645,000 slaves that were brought to the United States. And I’m with Martin Luther King, Jr. on this. His documents, his speeches – I’ve read most of them. And I agree with almost every word that came out of him. Slavery was abhorrent, but it was also a fact of life in those centuries where it existed.

And of the 645,000 Africans that were brought here to be forcibly put into slavery in the United States, there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery. And I don’t see the monument to that in the Congressional Visitor Center, and I think it’s important that we have a balanced depiction of history.

The Capitol Visitor Center is simply trying to recognize the work of those who built the Capitol. But King is apparently concerned that slaves are being unduly recognized while Union soldiers who fought for their emancipation are not getting any credit. He simply needs to open his eyes and look around Washington, DC. If he steps right outside the Capitol, he’ll see the Ulysses S. Grant memorial, a monument that commemorates the former general of the Union Army. (See picture to the right.)

Grant’s statue is flanked on either side by monuments of fighting Union Artillery and Cavalry groups. The Grant statue faces west toward the Lincoln Memorial, which of course honors the President who led the effort to free the slaves. In addition, at the Congressional Cemetery lies the Arsenal Monument, a memorial in honor of women who died while performing services for the Union Army. And there’s also an African American Civil War Memorial that honors the contributions that African-American troops made to the war effort.

If Steve King wants to learn more about how DC has honored the contributions of Union soldiers, he can order this book, titled: “Testament to Union: Civil War Monuments In Washington, D.C.” And if King’s truly interested in a “balanced depiction of history,” he’d be supporting a simple acknowledgment of slave labor’s role in building the Capitol, a memorial that doesn’t currently exist in DC.

Do read the comments for a thorough roto-rootering of this ass's excuse for casual racism.

So, I've said it before, but it bears repeating, Rep. King: Bite Me!

How Unregulated Markets Crashed the Economy

From Vanity Fair

Almost a year after A.I.G.’s collapse, despite a tidal wave of outrage, there still has been no clear explanation of what toppled the insurance giant. The author decides to ask the people involved—the silent, shell-shocked traders of the A.I.G. Financial Products unit—and finds that the story may have a villain, whose reign of terror over 400 employees brought the company, the U.S. economy, and the global financial system to their knees.

Read the whole thing.

I Hope He Spends It on Hookers and Blow

From Talking Points Memo

The Minnesota Republican Party has tied off a remaining loose end from the epic, eight-month battle to determine a winner in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, sending Democratic Sen. Al Franken's campaign a check for almost $96,000 that was owed to him by Republican former Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign.

This had been the result of a trial-court judgement in early June, finding Coleman liable under the state's loser-pays provision for a small portion of the legal fees that Franken had piled up in the course of the election litigation.


Heh.

Republican Douchebag of the Week...

Rep. Steve King...

We've gotten an explanation from Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for why he was the lone vote against acknowledging the role of slaves in building the U.S. Capitol. He did it to protest "a several year effort by liberals in Congress to scrub references to America's Christian heritage from our nation's Capitol":

Our Judeo-Christian heritage is an essential foundation stone of our great nation and should not be held hostage to yet another effort to place guilt on future Americans for the sins of some of their ancestors.

So there you have it.

Douchebag.

Democrats Growing Spine, One Vertebrae at a Time

Some Signs Here, Here and Here.

Socialized Medicine? It's Already Here.

From Americablog Krugman writes:

A correspondent writes in, denouncing my latest column, and says that if things go my way we’ll end up with the government providing health care to everyone, which will “destroy the American way of life.”

Hmm. There’s a country this correspondent — and many others who denounce “socialized medicine” — should look at. It’s a country where there is, indeed, a substantial private health insurance industry, which pays 35 percent of medical bills. But the government pays a larger share — 46 percent. (Most of the rest is out-of-pocket spending.)

The country is called the United States of America.

Obama Refuses To Push For Public Option

From Rawstory and the Wall Street Journal


WASHINGTON -- It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Monday.

"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.

His comments came as the Senate Finance Committee pushed for a bipartisan deal. To help pay for the package, the committee planned to announce an agreement Wednesday with hospitals and the White House for $155 billion over a decade in reductions to Medicare and charity-care payments for hospitals, according to a person familiar with the agreement. That will help pay for the legislation, expected to cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years.

One of the most contentious issues is whether to create a public health-insurance plan to compete with private companies.

Mr. Emanuel said one of several ways to meet President Barack Obama's goals is a mechanism under which a public plan is introduced only if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own. He noted that congressional Republicans crafted a similar trigger mechanism when they created a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare in 2003. In that case, private competition has been judged sufficient and the public option has never gone into effect.

Mr. Obama has pushed hard for a vigorous public option. But he has also said he won't draw a "line in the sand" over this point.

The deal with the hospitals follows a similar agreement with brand-name drug companies. And insurance companies were talking to Senate negotiators about cuts worth at least $100 billion over 10 years, according to two officials with knowledge of the negotiations.

Congressional negotiators and the White House hope to lock in support from the industry groups, which are backing a health bill in general terms but have opposed past efforts.


Why on Earth is the White House signaling that it is willing to compromise on the public option?!? Mr. Obama has pushed hard for a vigorous public option. But he has also said he won't draw a "line in the sand" over this point. Grow a spine and draw the fucking line, Obama! We have 60 votes in the Senate! 60! No matter what compromises we make in the name of bipartisanship, the Republicans will not vote for this bill. They can't because that would mean the Democrats and Obama accomplished something, and their whole existence requires that they cause the Democrats to fail. Why the hell should we water down the bill for them?

Listen, the health insurance industry does not want a public option. They hate it. The fear it. And the health insurance companies are only out for themselves. Not us. Therefore there must be something right about it.

Go for the public option, Obama. Give the insurance companies REAL competition. Do something REAL about the health care crisis. Draw the line.

My Most Morbid Thought, Ever...

If the U.S. government confiscated Michael Jackson's body, and held repeated funerals around the country in arena after arena, selling tickets to everyone who wants to take part, the government could erase this year's deficit, and maybe next year's as well.

Driving the Peterbilt Commentary: Numbers 26 and 27

Numbers 26

In this chapter, which is too, too, long and detailed, the Hebrews get counted again and we find out that everyone who escaped from Egypt died in the wilderness except for Caleb and Joshua. I wonder how many of the Hebrews would have gone with Moses if they knew that little detail before they left? Not exactly a great selling point: Come with me and you'll die in the desert after 40 years of crappy food, inadequate water, non-stop camping and incessant abuse by the one true god! Thanks, Moses, maybe next time. Do yourself a favor and don't read this chapter.

Numbers 27

In this chapter, the daughters of Zelophehad come to Moses with a request to be allowed to inherit their dead father's stuff, seeing how he died without a son. And God agrees! Hey, a win for equality of the sexes! Kind of. Because, it wouldn't be religion if it didn't include some sex-based discriminatory practices. So, the inheritance scheme set out by God still overly privileges male inheritance over female inheritance. Then, God issues a death sentence for Moses and chooses Joshua to lead the Hebrews once Moses kicks it.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day! We choose this day to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Spend some time here learning about the Declaration and the 56 men who signed it. Spend some time today reading the actual document here, after all, the men who signed it were committing treason to do so, risking their necks for the principles outlined in it.

Palin Resigns As Governor! WTF! Political Death?

From Yahoonews.com

WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

Palin, 45, and her staff kept her future plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the foundation for a presidential bid.

Palin's spokesman, David Murrow, said the governor didn't say anything to him about this being her "political finale." He said he interpreted Palin's comment about working outside government as reflecting her current job only.

"She's looking forward to serving the public outside the governor's chair," he said.

And Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee SarahPAC, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, with an uptick in funds after Palin's announcement.

In a hastily arranged news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, Palin said she will formally step down July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," she said.

The 2008 vice presidential nominee was seen as a likely presidential contender in 2012 and had proved formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was ever really prepared for the presidency.

The backbiting continued through the week, with follow-up articles recounting the nasty infighting that plagued her failed bid. Her advisers sniped with other Republicans, underscoring the deeply divided GOP looking for its next standard bearer.

Meghan Stapleton, Palin's personal spokeswoman, shot down speculation that ranged wildly from Palin dropping out of politics altogether to eyeing runs against fellow Alaska Republicans U.S. Rep. Don Young and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Palin's comment about serving outside government refers to the present, she said.

Stapleton, however, said it's too early to say whether Palin would seek the presidency. In the meantime, the governor will continue to work "toward affecting positive change as a citizen without a title right now," she said.

"Her vision is what's best for Alaska, which translates into what's best for America," Stapleton said.

Palin's resignation, timed on the eve of the July 4 holiday when many Americans had already begun a three-day weekend, seemed designed to avoid publicity. She alluded to how she could help change the country and help military members — code that she didn't think her time on the national stage was over.

What the hell? There has GOT to be more to this story. This move makes absolutely NO sense for someone intending to run for any elected office. Why would you vote for someone who refuses to even try to finish out the term of office to which they got elected? Who wants a elect as president someone who apparently can't even run a state for little more than two years without quitting? Even the Freepers can't believe it. Jesus Christ on a crutch, she was supposed to be the V.P, a job that's way tougher than Alaska Gov.

Republicans, for the good of our country, you need to check yourselves. You already inflicted the boy blunder Bush the Lesser on us, and you came thisclose to inflicting the Wasilla Disaster on us. Your political instincts are SHIT. They cannot be trusted. You need to recognize that the people you admire and believe in are complete and total incompetents. Please, for the good of the country, sit out the next couple elections. Work on improving your judgment and then come back with REAL candidates, not these morons you've been backing.

Busy Week Link Farm

Links from Rawstory for your perusal:

Obama's doing in Afghanistan what we should have done 7 years ago.

The economy still sucks. But Obama at least knows it.

Gays are still targeted for abusive police action 40 years after Stonewall.

Obama is turning into Bush the III on secrecy and government openness.

473,000 More Jobs Lost in June

From Rawstory

EW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers cut 473,000 jobs in June, more than expected but down from the 485,000 jobs lost in May, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

The median of forecasts from 25 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, was for 393,000 private-sector jobs lost in June.

Though June's job loss was the smallest since October 2008, the surprisingly large number of cuts deals a setback to those expecting the U.S. economy to recover soon.

"The data surprises me a little bit in that the consensus out there seems to be that business is improving and that the economy has hit bottom," said Mark Bonhard, investment advisor at Dawson Wealth Management in Cleveland, Ohio.

"This definitely is not good news."

We may need another stimulus package.It sucks, but, there it is. I've always suspected that the first stimulus bill was too small. We can sit on our hands and hope against all reasonable hope that the economy recovers on its own and risk a decades long Great Depression II, or we can try to due something about it. You can easily guess which option the Republicans are going to choose. So it us up to Obama and the Democratic Majority to rescue the economy. Do the right thing, Democrats.

Minn. S.C. Declares Franken Winner

From Rawstory

The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed early Tuesday afternoon that Franken won the state’s senate seat from former Republican Senator Norm Coleman in a razor-thin election.

...

Former Senator Norm Coleman may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, even though the Minnesota court’s ruling was unanimous. Coleman has not yet conceded.

Eat it, Republicans! That's 60 for the Democrats. Welcome to the new era.

How Republicans Made Themselves Irrelevant

There is a very good way to ensure that you will lose any negotiation: take an unreasonable position and never budge from it. Since politics is all about negotiation, it's no wonder that Republicans find themselves without major influence on current legislation. With only 40 seats in the Senate and in a minority position in the House, their only hope to really have an influence on what laws get passed is to negotiate in good faith, make substantive criticisms and offer reasonable measures to address those criticisms. There are NO Perfect Bills. All can be made better through tweaks and minor fixes. Too much pork in the Stimulus Bill? Fix it! Don't like certain Cap and Trade provisions? Don't like the new regulations on the derivatives markets or the banks? Don't like the proposals for health care reform? Fix It! Fix It! Fix! It!

But Republicans don't want to Fit It! They refuse to negotiate in Good Faith by denying there are any problems that need to be addressed through new legislation. The Stimulus Bill is the best example. For over a year, Republicans denied that the economy was in need of a Stimulus Package. They declared the economy fundamentally healthy and said that if we leave it alone it would recover on its own. They stated, deceptively, that government intervention played absolutely no role in ending the Great Depression. They stated, in other words, that there was no need for a Stimulus Package at all, except, maybe, for more tax cuts.

But that's just one example. On Cap and Trade, the Republican Party declared that there was no need for the bill because they state there is no Global Climate Change. No Climate Change, no need for Cap and Trade. Easy, no? They deny that we need new any new regulations in the derivatives market, or on banks, because that's Socialism, you know. The Free Market will rule and everything will be all right. On Health Care Reform, they deny that we even have a Health Care Crisis that needs to be addressed. After all, don't you know that we have the best health care In The World! (Pssst! No, we don't.)

By staking out such ridiculous positions, (no need for stimulus, no Global Warming, no need for Bank oversight, no Health Care Crisis), the Republicans completely shut themselves out of the legislative negotiating process. How can the Democrats work to make the Stimulus Bill more effective when the Republican deny the need for the Bill in the first place! You can't negotiate with that.

So, the Democrats are forced to go it alone. Which would be fine, if so many of them weren't under the undue influence of special interests. Hopefully, over the next year, and once we get Al Franken, our 60th Senator seated, the Democrats will begin to mature in the legislative process. As for the Republicans, expect more whining about lack of bi-partisanship. It's all they can do at this point.

Iraqis Celebrate Iraqi Takeover in Cities

From Yahoonews/AP


BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities.

"The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty."

The Pentagon did not offer any comment to mark the passing of the deadline.

Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.

"All of us are happy — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds on this day," Waleed al-Bahadili said as he celebrated at the park. "The Americans harmed and insulted us too much."

Al-Maliki declared a public holiday and proclaimed June 30 as "National Sovereignty Day."

Midnight's handover to Iraqi forces filled many citizens with pride but also trepidation that government forces are not ready and that violence will rise. Shiites fear more bombings by Sunni militants; Sunnis fear that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces will give them little protection.

If the Iraqis can hold down violence in the coming months, it will show the country is finally on the road to stability. If they fail, it will pose a challenge to President Barack Obama's pledge to end an unpopular war that has claimed the lives of more than 4,300 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The gathering at the Baghdad park was unprecedented in size for such a postwar event in a city where people tend to avoid large gatherings for fear of suicide bombers. They ignored an appeal by Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi to stay away from crowded places during the U.S. pullback, which has seen more than 250 people killed in bombings over the past 10 days.

The ultimate fate of Iraq is and always has been in the hands of the Iraqi people themselves. They will stand or fall together, based on the Iraqi collective will, not the will of the American government. We have no effect on that collective will. Our military presence merely postpones the day when that collective will becomes manifest at the cost of American lives, money and military flexibility. As soon as Americans truly understand that they cannot control what happens in Iraq ultimately, the sooner we can understand that leaving is not a dishonor and never was.

Sotomayor Reversed by Conservative Wing of S.C. in Anti-Discrimination Suit

From Americablog

The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
Couple of things to remember: Sotomayor was on a three judge appellate court, the other two judges on the panel agreed with Sotomayor, they strictly applied precedent as it applied to the case, meaning there was absolutely NO Liberal Judicial activism, and 4 of the justices on the current Supreme Court apparently agreed with Sotomayor and the Appeals court. This decision is hardly evidence of Sotomayor as an out-of-control, Communist, Leftest, Judicial Nut-job.

But, don't let these simple facts get in the way, Republicans! There are still one or two Hispanics/Latinos you've not yet convinced that your party is the party of racist hand-jobs. So, get out there and show those minorities, Republicans. Start. Your. Whining!

Near-Monopoly Health Insurance Companies

Talking Points Memo and TP Muckraker


Defenders of the status quo on health care like to point out that a public option will destroy the system of robust free-market competition that currently exists.

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But the notion that most American consumers enjoy anything like a competitive marketplace for health care is flatly false. And a study issued last month by a pro-reform group makes that strikingly clear.

The report, released by Health Care for America Now (HCAN), uses data compiled by the American Medical Association to show that 94 percent of the country's insurance markets are defined as "highly concentrated," according to Justice Department guidelines. Predictably, that's led to skyrocketing costs for patients, and monster profits for the big health insurers. Premiums have gone up over the past six years by more than 87 percent, on average, while profits at ten of the largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007.

Far from healthy market competition, HCAN describes the situation as "a market failure where a small number of large companies use their concentrated power to control premium levels, benefit packages, and provider payments in the markets they dominate."

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The problem is most acute in small rural states, according to the report. In Shelby's own state of Alabama, the biggest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, controls 83 percent of the statewide market. There, and in nine other states -- Hawaii, Rhode Island, Alaska, Vermont, Maine, Montana, Wyoming, Arkansas and Iowa -- the two largest health insurers control at least 80 percent of the market. So much for Shelby's "marketplace for health care."

Odierno Says U.S. Troops Out of Iraqi Cities

From Rawstory

The top US commander in Iraq says the U.S. military has already reached its goal of withdrawing from Iraqi cities by the end of the month.

Gen. Ray Odierno told Fox News Sunday that a recent spate of violence has not changed the Pentagon’s plans, and may in fact backfire on the insurgents.

“We’ve had some extremist elements trying to bring attention to themselves as well as divert attention from the progress being made in Iraq,” Odierno told Fox’s Brett Baier.

“What this has done, frankly, is brought the ire of Iraqi citizens against these groups … I believe that will make it much more difficult for these groups to operate inside Iraq over the long term.”

Odierno said that Iraqi security forces are ready to take over responsibility for security in the cities Tuesday. “The continued improvement in overall stability and security makes this the right time for us to turn this over to the Iraqi security forces,” Odierno told viewers.

Well, seems I owe some people a Coke, starting with Odierno. I've been very wary of Odierno from the past. In the beginning, he seemed to me to be one of the quagmire advocates, someone who was dead-set against even the idea of withdrawing our troops from Iraq. In fact, he seemed to be the one who convinced Obama to adopt a much more cautious troop withdrawal plan than I wanted to see. I feared that, given his apparent opposition to withdraw, he would do everything in his power to hinder it. In fact, I wanted Obama to replace Odierno. Clearly, I was wrong. Odierno has done what he was commanded to do. And, while I still wish we could remove all our troops from Iraq more quickly, Obama deserves praise for ensuring that his withdrawal plans are not being derailed. Like the gay rights issues, Iraq is a deal-breaker for me. If, in three years, we have not completed our withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq, I will not vote for Obama. And no residual forces or trainers, either. Out, complete, 100%.

Driving the Peterbilt Commentary: Numbers 24 and 25

Numbers 24:

"You're so vain, you probably think this story's about you...."Okay, in the final chapter in the story of Balaam and Balak, Balaam refuses to come to Balak's aid against the Hebrews, he makes a few predictions and then leaves. After reading these three chapters, I'm convinced this is not an original Jewish story. This reads like an appropriated story. It reads like the Hebrews heard the story of one king asking another king for help and God getting involved and talking asses and sacrifices and the Hebrews said, "what an interesting story, let's put it in our book. We'll just say that the first king wanted help against us! That's the ticket." But, except for the talking ass, it really is quite boring. Also, The prophesies in the end are alleged to refer to Jesus according to Christians, but are so vague they can refer to any Israelite leader with a military bent. Which actually precludes Jesus, since he never "smashed" anyone. Odd.

Numbers 25:

In this chapter, some of the Hebrews start worshiping the god Ball-Peor, so O.T. god starts another plague, killing 24,000 people. The plague ends when the priest Phineas runs a couple of lovebirds (people, not birds) through with his javelin. For this cold-blooded murder, god rewards Phineas by making him chief priest, forever. Then god issues a fatwa against the Midianites, ordering Moses to kill them all. Tune in to see what happens next!

Again, from this chapter, it's plain that O.T. god hates the First Amendment. No freedom of religion for him. If you worship the wrong god, god will kill you and everyone related to you, dead. And he will order his followers to kill for him and reward them for doing so. I'm beginning to think that it's a good thing so few Christians actually read the bible.