apple juice

Both cases are distressingly telling examples of the authoritarian mentality so often found in right-wing politics — force and mob action to shut down actual discussion. It two sides of the same coin — the right in power versus the right out of power.

Par for the course.

(Via Authoritarian Mindset -Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall.)

If you haven’t heard, right-wing groups are organizing “regular citizens” to show up at these town halls, and essentially heckle, boo, and disrupt the discussion.

Sounds like the party of ideas to me .

if you’re interested in reading more on the subject, including comparisons to other health systems around the world, here’s a good article…

In his new book The Healing of America, the journalist T.R. Reid employs a clever device for surveying the world’s health systems: He takes an old shoulder injury to doctors in various countries.

Health, American-style

Remember back to July of 2001, if you can. Do remember the massive $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut that President Bush signed into law?

Lines up pretty nicely with the $1 trillion dollar health care plan, doesn’t it…

It’s all about choices. More over at TPM — Let the Record Show

I love how he has identified the fundamental hypocrisy of “judicial activism”. (Emphasis mine)

I agree with Senator Feingold and Senator Whitehouse that we hear a lot about judicial activism when politicians talk about what kind of judge they want in the Supreme Court. But it seems that their definition of an activist judge is one who votes differently than they would like. Because during the Rehnquist Court, Justice Clarence Thomas voted to overturn federal laws more than Justices Stevens and Breyer combined.“

(Via TPM.)

Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

via In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health – NYTimes.com.

BOOM!

Make it happen!

This article is essential reading if you are interested in the future of health care in this country.

Our country’s health care is by far the most expensive in the world. In Washington, the aim of health-care reform is not just to extend medical coverage to everybody but also to bring costs under control. Spending on doctors, hospitals, drugs, and the like now consumes more than one of every six dollars we earn. The financial burden has damaged the global competitiveness of American businesses and bankrupted millions of families, even those with insurance. It’s also devouring our government. “The greatest threat to America’s fiscal health is not Social Security,” President Barack Obama said in a March speech at the White House. “It’s not the investments that we’ve made to rescue our economy during this crisis. By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care. It’s not even close.”

via Annals of Medicine: The Cost Conundrum: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker.

Many people will tell Mr. Obama that taxing carbon or gasoline now is a “nonstarter.” Wrong. It is the only starter. It is the game-changer. If you want to know where postponing it has gotten us, visit Detroit. No carbon tax or increased gasoline tax meant that every time the price of gasoline went down to $1 or $2 a gallon, consumers went back to buying gas guzzlers. And Detroit just fed their addictions — so it never committed to a real energy-efficiency retooling of its fleet.

via Op-Ed Columnist – The Real Generation X – NYTimes.com.

emphasis mine. The stupid thing is that Ford, GM and Chrysler make more energy efficient cars for other markets! So where are those cars for America?