Jack & Jill Politics

The Coming Deficit Disaster:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487...

this is an incredibly weak article.
One, they site as the cause of the deficit on social spending and the increase for the new healthcare bill, which by the way doens't start until fiscal year 2013 or 14. Why is it that spending on the defense department doesn't count. Read this article on how money was spent in Iraq for infrastructure that was appropriate for the us but not Iraq. Areal examination of US geopolitical issues would remove military bases from much of Europe and Japan saving trillions over the next ten years.
Two, they at least touched on the tax code but as usual they only want to close some loopholes. What is needed is a new tax code that addresses the economy of today and excludes ALL loopholes. It could be done w/ a flat tax and very limited exclusions for businesses, individuals and families.
Three, much of the current deficit is being caused by FED guarantees(which you can't see, which means you do not even know who is getting them or why, to the financial system. what is required here is an end to the guarantees and a revamping of the system to prevent the government from being the provider of last resort.
Four, the concept of the deficit is being addressed, i.e. why is there a deficit. It isn't merely because there isn't sufficient revenue but that what revenue there is not being spent to provide the basis for more revenue. If you spend money so everyone has the same basic coverage do you think there will be more productivity in the economy or not? If you spend more money on infrastructure(not the bridge to nowhere) will it improve delivery of goods and services or not?
The challnge is for all of us is to examine how we look at a concept and determine if it is the correct way or havewe succumbed to the Reublican way of framing an issue in nebulous emotional terms that don't further debate but instead lock our thinking into a codependent spiral of despair.

You will note the the article refers to the backloading of costs such that the true cost of the program is obscured in 10 year cost estimates. It also is truthful about cost reductions in that congress just voted to RAISE payments to doctors.
This healthcare bill is an entitlement. As pointed out in the article, once the entitlement is in place it can only be EXPANDED because it will impact a large number of VOTERS. IT WILL NOT LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS.

If congress is going to pass this bill (and they will), they need to project actual costs and not fantasy costs.

I understand your point. In the ver short term of installing this program as it is written it will be rewritten so we end up w/ a single payer system. We'll finance it properly by using general tax revenue.
You're watching small "p" politics of the worse kind. We would be better off w/ a terrorist attack against the Congress that kills all of them so we can start over.

When it comes to domestic spending, deficits matter but for foreign adventures they don't count. That NYTimes article about all those white elephants that were built in Iraq is just sad. Think of the benefits if they were done stateside instead.

I agree w/ you totally about what it would mean stateside.
It was an indictment of the Bush administration having a war to reward corporate sponsors.

I think Rachel's show should have more panels like the one last night. She is more conversational and interesting responding to others. I am hoping she does this more often. Note- she needs a more diverse panel.

Roger Sterling: Just The Hits
Those of you who watch television in a timely manner know how motherf*cking fantastic the season finale of Mad Men was. The rest of you can make do with this. Very good, Happy Christmas!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/akdobbins/roger-sterlin...

I just love it when you talk dirty!!!

I love it when you talk dirty!!!

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson is to play Winnie Mandela in a film charting the turbulent life and times of the ex-wife of South Africa's first black president, it was reported Wednesday.

Hudson, who scooped a best supporting actress Oscar in 2007 for her performance in the musical "Dreamgirls", told Daily Variety the film would bring a "powerful part of history" to cinema screens.

"I was compelled and moved when I read the script," Hudson said. "Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I'm honored to be the actress to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told."

The film will be directed by South African film-maker Darrell J. Roodt, whose films include "Cry, The Beloved Country" and "Sarafina."

News of the film comes as Hollywood prepares to release "Invictus" a Clint Eastwood-directed drama about Nelson Mandela, to be played by Morgan Freeman, and how the 1995 Rugby World Cup united the country after apartheid.

Jennifer Hudson to Play Winnie Mandela

Nice choice I shd say
I love Ms Hudson and Winnie is my hero
I was disappointed when I cldn't meet her last year in South Africa. I vowed to go back and do a project with her or something.
The media portrays her as they want but if you go out there on the streets in SA and ask about her you will get mixed views (depending on...). They still hail her in SA, they call her Mother Africa and I have to agree with them...ok I am biased but I still love her:)

I just hope the movie comes out good.

Speaking of Rugby, I did not buy any Springboks' apparels last yr in SA. We were all excited when we went into the store to buy stuff, then one of the black SA associates there kind of hinted to us that there were no black players' apparels available to purchase at that time (lol...nice hint) so we decided right there not to bother!

The sports is pretty much segregated according people we talked to. Just few blacks make the team and the treatment...

* NOVEMBER 21, 2009

The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery
In India, a Factory Model for Hospitals Is Cutting Costs and Yielding Profits

By GEETA ANAND

BANGALORE -- Hair tucked into a surgical cap, eyes hidden behind thick-framed magnifying glasses, Devi Shetty leans over the sawed open chest of an 11-year-old boy, using bright blue thread to sew an artificial aorta onto his stopped heart.

As Dr. Shetty pulls the thread tight with scissors, an assistant reads aloud a proposed agreement for him to build a new hospital in the Cayman Islands that would primarily serve Americans in search of lower-cost medical care. The agreement is inked a few days later, pending approval of the Cayman parliament.

Dr. Shetty, who entered the limelight in the early 1990s as Mother Teresa's cardiac surgeon, offers cutting-edge medical care in India at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere in the world. His flagship heart hospital charges $2,000, on average, for open-heart surgery, compared with hospitals in the U.S. that are paid between $20,000 and $100,000, depending on the complexity of the surgery.

The approach has transformed health care in India through a simple premise that works in other industries: economies of scale. By driving huge volumes, even of procedures as sophisticated, delicate and dangerous as heart surgery, Dr. Shetty has managed to drive down the cost of health care in his nation of one billion.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125875892887958...

Interesting article and it answered in part one of my questions, "what about the quality of this care?"--
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I think he has reached the point where if you increase volume any more, you could compromise patient care unless backed up by very robust standard operating procedures and processes," Dr. Varma says.
<works for rival company>

But Jack Lewin, chief executive of the American College of Cardiology, who visited Dr. Shetty's hospital earlier this year as a guest lecturer, says Dr. Shetty has done just the opposite -- used high volumes to improve quality. For one thing, some studies show quality rises at hospitals that perform more surgeries for the simple reason that doctors are getting more experience. And at Narayana, says Dr. Lewin, the large number of patients allows individual doctors to focus on one or two specific types of cardiac surgeries.

In smaller U.S. and Indian hospitals, he says, there aren't enough patients for one surgeon to focus exclusively on one type of heart procedure.

Two former county judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities are partially immune from civil lawsuits, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Friday.

The decision by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo could make it harder for the people suing former Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. to collect damages.

Caputo said Ciavarella will avoid civil consequences for "the vast majority" of his conduct, because much of it occurred inside a courtroom, such as determination of delinquency and sentencing.

2 former judges granted partial judicial immunity in NE Pa. kids-for-cash kickback lawsuit

so, they're crooks, and ruined countless children's lives, but have ' immunity' in some shape?

hell no

Right-wing activist Andrew Breitbart of BigGovernment.com and other conservative anti-Obama websites, made a bizarre appearance on Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night, issuing a direct threat, approaching blackmail, to the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder. Breitbart is angry that Attorney General Holder has not opened a federal investigation into ACORN and he issued a threat of releasing more tapes during the 2010 elections, unless Holder complies with his demands.

Breitbart together with conservative operatives James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, released another heavily edited ACORN tape this week, which seems to show an ACORN employee assisting the two with an illegal prostitution scheme.

Breitbart said, he was “forced” to release another tape due to the lack of a federal investigation into what he calls a “dangerous organization.”

“Congress didn’t come in to investigate them—obviously not the Attorney General’s office. And they’ve now realized— let’s get back into business, because they’ve realized that the dust settled and they were not being investigated. It was Hannah and James and me who were being investigated. That’s why we’ve been forced to offer this latest tape.”

Breitbart then issued his angry threat against Attorney General Holder and the Obama administration:

“And this message is to Attorney General Holder: I want you to know we have more tapes–its not just ACORN. And we’re going to hold out until the next election cycle — or else, if you want to do a clean investigation, we will give you the rest of what we have. We will comply with you. We will give you the documentation we have from countless ACORN whistleblowers who want to come forward, but are fearful of this organization and the retribution — that they fear that this is a dangerous organization.”

“So if you will get into an investigation, we will give you the tapes, and if you don’t give us the tapes [sic], we will revisit these tapes come election time.”

Quite a threatening statement made by a right-wing blogger to the United States Attorney General.

Breitbart: ‘This Message is to Attorney General Holder,’ Investigate ACORN ‘Or Else

---

Well, I guess, that should shakeup AG Holder. NOT

They're gonna finally release the Whitey tape.

Oh...I thought they were gonna release the tape of Obama being born from a jackal in a Kenyan jungle circled by dancing witch doctors who sing in tongue some satanic chant.

I was so hoping for that.

what is the whitey tapes?

They claimed that Michelle Obama stood up with Farrakhan on the pulpit of Rev. Wright's church and delivered a screaming diatribe about hating whitey.

1) Nobody except George Jefferson walks around calling white people "Whitey" or "Honkey.'

2) Ain't NO preacher gonna let anyone else except a fellow preacher to get up on his pulpit and deliver any other speech except the morning announcements and the responsive reading. If Rev. Wright didn't let BARACK OBAMA get up on his pulpit speechifying he damn sure ain't gonna let his WIFE get up on the pulpit.

3) Michelle Obama was in attendance at a luncheon at the church with Louis Farrakhan's wife. But she didn't make any speeches and if there was a tape, how come Hillary an' 'em couldn't find it? Alan Keyes back in '04?

Oh,

And how funny is this?

"Joe The Plumber Comes Out Against Palin Running In 2012"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/21/joe-th...

he's mad that his 15 minutes is gone.

I'm no longer a fan of Keith O, but what he's been doing lately with his advocacy of the free clinics that are gonna happen all over the country (1st one in my hometown of New Orleans, who really needs it, since Charity Hospital, the gov't-funded hospital, hasn't been "re-builit, or re-opened" since Katrina).

So I saw this, and I had to post it here and say that Bill Clinton & Hilary Clinton are probably 2 of the most vindictive pols around, especially Bill. Hilary tends to hide it better. Check this s&^% out:

"Bill Clinton Blasts Olbermann For Politicizing Health Care Event, Refuses To Go"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/20/bill-c...

Just when you start to forget about bubba's antics on the campaign trail, he does some FU*&up crap like this.
bubba better pray KO doesn't go SPECIAL COMMENT on his azz on Monday!!!

healthcare IS political right now, and unless BUBBA has raised money for his own clinic, he needs to STFU.

Some folks are going gaga over this piece
Chris Matthews Criticizes Obama Using Cheney's "Dithering" Remark (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/20/chris-...

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with legitimate criticism. Was Chris wrong with some of his analysis and the word dithering? Maybe
But on the other hand, I hope Dems don't get too comfortable and turn out or worst like the Repubs
If I remember correctly, during the Bush years, it was an abomination to criticize Bush and see where that got us.
President Obama is doing a good job but we want him to do better. We give him credit where/when it is due but the same time we still need to evaluate his performance so that we don't slip into the no-fault zone
Personally, I am really disappointed with the way he handled Health Care. In my opinion, I feel that if he comes out publicly and states what he wants, that would have strengthened the Dems instead of the compromises that the bill encountered.

Again, it is all abt POLITICS!

On a side note, is anyone really finding it difficult to donate money to the Dems this yr? I am.
I am broke but so was I last year and still managed to donate and buy tons of stuff.
The only donation that I feel inclined to give is KO's health care events

What would strenghten Dems is if citizens would march on Washington like the teabaggers and hold rallies like the teabaggers.

Right now Dems are watching Fox Noise looking at all the footage of angry white people and concluding the entire electorate is angry, forgetting the crowds of angry white people DID NOT vote for them or Obama in the first place.

Supporters of HCR need to get up off our asses and put pressure on our local congressmen and senators instead of expecting Obama to do all the work.

This.

"Supporters of HCR need to get up off our asses and put pressure on our local congressmen and senators instead of expecting Obama to do all the work."

Especially this.

Tips for the Admissions Test ... to Kindergarten
By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: November 20, 2009
Kayla Rosenblum sat upright and poised as she breezed through the shapes and numbers, a leopard-patterned finger puppet resting next to her for moral support.

But then came something she had never seen before: a visual analogy showing a picture of a whole cake next to a slice of cake. What picture went with a loaf of bread in the same way?

Kayla, who will be 4 in December, held her tiny pointer finger still as she inspected the four choices. “Too hard,” she peeped.

Test preparation has long been a big business catering to students taking SATs and admissions exams for law, medical and other graduate schools. But the new clientele is quite a bit younger: 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents hope that a little assistance — costing upward of $1,000 for several sessions — will help them win coveted spots in the city’s gifted and talented public kindergarten classes.

Motivated by a recession putting private schools out of reach and concern about the state of regular public education, parents — some wealthy, some not — are signing up at companies like Bright Kids NYC. Bright Kids, which opened this spring in the financial district, has some 200 students receiving tutoring, most of them for the gifted exams, for up to $145 a session and 80 children on a waiting list for a weekend “boot camp” program.

These types of businesses have popped up around the country, but took off in New York City when it made the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, or Olsat, a reasoning exam, and the Bracken School Readiness Assessment, a knowledge test, the universal tests for gifted admissions beginning in 2008.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/nyregion/21te...

Stories like this convinces me that there is a strong effort afoot to create an education gap that parallels the wealth gap.

Why do you say that? These "gifted" programs have been around awhile and they've always had these tests. Please explain.

Progressively, beginning at the 1st grade in public schools, NCLB-like testing standard creep has arrived in some school districts. With millions seeking jobs, where will these families find the money to prepare their children for these tests?

Mothers and Fathers need to sit down with their children and teach them to read, write, and do math. Most parents can handle this upto the 6th grade level.

What if they don't have parents? Some parents can't even read or do math these days if they are even around.

Oh ok I see what you are saying.

YEP

An American Catastrophe
By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 20, 2009

In many ways, it’s like a ghost town. It’s eerily quiet. Driving around in the middle of the afternoon, in a city that once was among the most productive on the planet, you see very little traffic, minimal commercial activity, hardly any pedestrians.

What you’ll see are endless acres of urban ruin, block after block and mile after mile of empty and rotting office buildings, storefronts, hotels, apartment buildings and private homes. It’s a scene of devastation and disintegration that stuns the mind, a major American city that still is home to 900,0000 people but which looks at times like a cross between postwar Berlin and the ruin of an ancient civilization.

Detroit was the arsenal of democracy in World War II and the incubator of the American middle class. It was the city that taught mass production to the rest of the world. It was a place that made cars, trucks and other tangible products, not derivatives. And it was the architect of the quintessentially American idea of putting people to work and paying them a decent wage. It’s frightening to think seriously about what we’ve allowed to happen to this city and what is now happening to the middle class and the American economy as a whole.

I was in Detroit with Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues. He grew up in Detroit and his love for the city and its people are palpable, as is his grief for the horrors the city has endured.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/opinion/21her...

This is great article but manufacturing in the US is thing of the past. There is not way an American worker is going to accept getting paid $2 a hour. A lot of workers in China and other places make less than that. There is no way an American company can compete if a foreign company is paying its workers that amount plus they have to pay for health insurance. These older heads are just going to have to let it go.

The notion of a post-industrial society was a subject I went over during a class in my info-sci degree program. Most of the stuff we use is made overseas, so we're basically in a service-based mode.

Psalm 109:8 crazies actually call God's wrath on themselves! Hotlist
by TechBob [Subscribe]
Digg this! Share this on Twitter - Psalm 109:8 crazies actually call God's wrath on themselves!Tweet this submit to reddit Share This
Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 06:01:43 PM PST

In a deliciously ironic twist, it turns out the Obama detractors promoting the hateful "Pray for Obama, Psalm 109:8" merchandise have seriously misinterpreted the scripture and are actually calling down the wrath of God on their own heads. A friend who is a Biblical Scholar realized this and said the Psalm is King David's plea to bring down God's Judgment on his false accusers.

This friend is a KOS lurker and Rachel Maddow fan (where he first saw this discussed) and wrote the following letter to Rachel that I wanted to share with the DailyKOS family (he's too shy to post directly) - It's a good one, you want to read this...

* TechBob's diary :: ::
*

Here's the text of his letter:

Hello Rachel,

I saw the segment on your show last night about the "Obama and Psalm109:8" references on various products. The groups behind this obviously think they are cleverly implying that Obama's days should be few and that another should take his office. However, much like the infamous and unfortunate choice of "teabaggers" as a label for conservative protest groups, they did not do their research carefully enough.

Many Biblical scholars say that Psalm 109 (written by King David) is his plea to God to bring down His (God's) judgment on his (King David's) false accusers. Under those circumstances the linking of "Obama and Psalm 109:8" would more accurately refer to Obama refuting his false accusers and calling down God's judgment on them.

So, in effect, these groups are actually promoting calling God's judgment down on themselves. If you read on further in Psalm 109, after a long list of various requested curses ending in verse 20, King David says this, "Let this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord, and of those who speak evil against my soul. But Thou, o God, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Thy name's sake; because Thy lovingkindness is good, deliver me."

Hallelujah! The Obama accusers are calling for their days to be few and for Obama to be delivered from tribulation. Who knew they could be so tolerant.

One of your many fans,

Bob H


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/20/20325/679

Look what happened to King Saul! And when he died David did not rejoice either. As a matter of fact, David mourned deeply over the death of King Saul. King Saul was jealous of David. Why? Because David was accepted in the sight of all the people and when he returned from a battle with the Philistine army, the women came from all the cities of Israel, singing, dancing to meet King Saul, the woman said Saul has slain his thousands & David his ten thousands. King Saul was jealous.

The Prophet Samuel had already anointed David to be King. No one can stop God's plan. It's hard to kick against the pricks!

LMAO
Say it ain't so
Buhahahahhahahahahahhahaha
I watched the segments and was shocked
For idiots to be hiding behind religion makes me sick
What a backlash

Black Kos, Week In Review Hotlist
by Black Kos [Unsubscribe]
Digg this! Share this on Twitter - Black Kos, Week In ReviewTweet this submit to reddit Share This
Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 06:36:34 AM PST

Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor

Recently it seems, some of the so- called media is insinuating that by bowing to the Emperor of Japan, our president is a handkerchief - head, bowing and scraping Uncle Tom. Oh that is not how they wrote it.

What they wrote were lies about no President having ever shown such deference to a foreign leader. Forget the photos showing two Republican’t Presidents bowing and one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania holding hands while walking long side a Saudi Prince. These folk lie boldly.

Some folks have tried just about everything in an effort to demean and diminish the first African American President. For all the black folk and some of the white, it is hard to take.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/20/93634/228

Kerosene Blanche

by BooMan
Sat Nov 21st, 2009 at 11:14:53 AM EST
We'll have a day of annoying speeches in the Senate and then sometime around 8pm we'll have a vote on cloture/motion to proceed to debate on the health care bill. The only remaining questions are whether Max Baucus can make it back from Montana for the vote (his mother is ill) and whether Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas will join the other 59 members of the Democratic caucus and vote to proceed. Joe Conason notes that the Big Dog weighed in on this issue at his presidential library in Little Rock.

It was Bill Clinton who uttered the most pungent criticism of [Blanche] Lincoln in recent days, however, although he didn't mention her by name. Speaking at a luncheon to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the opening of his presidential library in Little Rock on Wednesday afternoon, he berated the opponents of reform for preserving a system that spends far more than other developed countries for worse care -- at least $900 billion annually, according to his back-of-the-envelope calculations.

Clinton asked his audience, which included hundreds of Democratic donors and activists, to imagine a scenario in which he could somehow run for a third term as president (which drew enthusiastic applause). Then he asked them to consider what would happen if he offered the following campaign promise:

"If you elect me again, the first thing I'm going to do is put a $900 billion tax on you ... I'm going to have the government print the money, and put it on elevated flatbeds, and display it along the national mall. And we're going to broadcast this ceremony on national television. And then I'm going to motor myself from one end of that $900 billion to the other, sprinkling Kerosene on it, and then I'm going to set it afire and watch it burn.

"How many people do you think would vote for me?" he demanded. "If you don't want to reform healthcare, that is your position. That is what you are advocating."

Lincoln wasn't there, but she could have heard the roaring laughter all the way back in Washington.

No one is going to be laughing if Blanche Lincoln gets this vote wrong except Republicans.



http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/21/9...

Looks like they've got 60 votes in the Senate. We're moving the ball forward...