03-26-09
- Our 'Liberal Media':
- Top Papers Assign Golf, Baseball, And Culture Writers To The Climate Policy Beat (wonkroom) "The New York Times Magazine is publishing an 8,000-word cover article on climate denier Freeman Dyson written by Nicholas Dawidoff, a baseball writer. - The New Yorker’s lead ‘Talk of the Town’ piece on the economy and global warming is written by David Owen, a golf journalist. - The Wall Street Journal’s 'deputy Taste editor,' Naomi Schaeffer Riley, criticizes a groundbreaking Redefining Progress report on the demographics of environmental and economic inequality as 'oddly conspiratorial' and 'condescension.'"
- Barack's Gang:
- Obama Has Little Respect for Democratic Progressives (rollcall) -- In fact he thinks so little of this core group of Democrats that he has met with every other caucus on The Hill except the Progressive Caucus, which happens also to be the largest. He assumes they will vote for him regardless, so don't need any special attention or consideration. Indeed, it's apparently ok to insult them in this manner. -- I truly hope enough Progressives organize in such a way as to make him sweat a little over this insult. If Progressives are going to have no influence on his policies, I suggest they vote with their feet and find another party and candidate to stand with. Let the remaining right-of-center Democratic Party go its own inevitable way, playing footsies with RW extremists and the ultra-rich handlers who control both parties -- which Obama seems determined to do regardless.
- Military-Industrial Complex:
- New Neo-Con Group Lurking in Shadows (ips - wonkroom) "some see FPI as a likely successor to Kristol’s and Kagan’s previous organisation, the now-defunct Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which they launched in 1997 and which became best known for leading the public campaign to oust former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein both before and after the Sep. 11 attacks."
- The Great RW Religious Nutjob Shakedown:
- Oklahoma Legislature Investigates Richard Dawkins' Free Speech (huffingtonpost) "Well, it's official: Oklahoma's state legislature is investigating the University of Oklahoma for hosting a speech by [atheist] evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins."
- The Great Health Insurance Shakedown:
- Insurance Industry: The Parasite That Feeds on US Public Health System (commondreams) "Medicare is efficient (only 3.6% of Medicare's budget goes to administrative costs, compared to 31% for health care delivered through private insurance plans), its clients like it, and doctors and hospitals accept it."
- Howard Dean To Announce Major New Campaign On Health Care Reform (theplumline) -- Wants to preserve a public option in any health plan.
- The Great Economic Shakedown:
- Administration proposes financial system overhaul, will impose tougher rules on big players (yahoo)
- Krugman: Obama, Geithner Need to Do More to Boost Economy (abcnews) ""For people who felt that Obama was going to bring change, a real difference, it somehow feels quite a lot as if we've got the same old gang still making the policy decisions, despite how discredited they are in the eyes of the public..."
- Geithner update: Grab yer ankles and say ‘Uncle Sam’ (onlinejournal) "Here’s what everyone needs to know: The US government (you) will provide up to 94 percent of the financing (low interest, of course) for dodgy mortgage-backed assets that no one in their right mind would ever buy, so that wealthy and politically-connected banksters can scrub up to $1 trillion of red ink from their balance sheets. Ugh!"
- Geithner- the same yesterday, today and tomorrow: Geithner Endorses Naked Credit Default Swaps (firedoglake) -- He certainly is the embodiment of change we can believe in.
- Administration seeks expanded oversight of financial system (nytimes)
- California unemployment to hit 12% next spring (americablog)
- Stars Young and Old (apod)
