- Republicans Abandon Winning 2010 Strategy with Medicare Privatization Plan | Firedoglake – David Dayen
- …the only policy item Republicans used to win election in November 2010 was an odd defense of Medicare. They accused Democrats…of cutting $523 billion in Medicare funding to “pay for Obama-care.” They positioned themselves as the defenders of senior citizens… It wasn’t all that true – but it’s what Republicans used to win the House of Representatives, and it worked. …
…now Republicans are about to unveil a budget that privatizes Medicare. …everybody else who reaches the age of 65 gets a voucher they can use to purchase health insurance on the private market. The voucher’s value does not increase over time even as health insurance rates rise, so it will cover less and less …the Medicare certification would have no standards like essential benefits, annual limits and minimum guarantees…
…is this political suicide? …I imagine there’s some way this could be sold to [voters] as positive. …
- Required Reading: American Progress Koch Report | DeSmogBlog – Richard Littlemore
- The Centre for American Progress Action Fund has just released a new report on the Koch brothers and their tentacled intervention in American politics.
The report documents the extent of the Koch empire as well as the Koch's known investments in anti-government think tanks and action groups…
- Court Upholds Arizona’s Tax Credit for Religious Tuition – NYTimes.com
- The Supreme Court on Monday effectively upheld an Arizona program that aids religious schools, saying in a 5-to-4 decision that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge it.
The program itself is novel and complicated, and allowing it to go forward may be of no particular moment. But by closing the courthouse door to some kinds of suits that claim violations of the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion, the court’s ruling in the case may be quite consequential.
Justice Elena Kagan, in her first dissent, said the majority had laid waste to the doctrine of “taxpayer standing,” which allows suits from people who object to having tax money spent on religious matters.
[Meanwhile, let's expand the Hyde Amendment! -L]
- Joseph Stiglitz: The Fate of The Top 1% Is Bound Up With How The Other 99% Live
- Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that America's top economists are running around with their hair on fire? [link] …
"Of all the costs imposed on our society by the top 1 percent, perhaps the greatest is this: the erosion of our sense of identity, in which fair play, equality of opportunity, and a sense of community are so important. America has long prided itself on being a fair society, where everyone has an equal chance of getting ahead, but the statistics suggest otherwise: the chances of a poor citizen, or even a middle-class citizen, making it to the top in America are smaller than in many countries of Europe. The cards are stacked against them. It is this sense of an unjust system without opportunity that has given rise to the conflagrations in the Middle East:…
"As we gaze out at the popular fervor in the streets, one question to ask ourselves is this: When will it come to America?"
- Study: 1 in 5 US Moms Have Kids with Multiple Dads | The Root
- The number of studies that come out about women and children is simply astonishing and the angle is always the same — children are suffering because of the choices of the mother. We're wondering where the study is about the number of men with children by multiple women?
…we're not disputing the data, but are interested in hearing a study that actually asks why women are making these decisions as opposed to reinscribing dominant ideologies on the choices that women make. The suggestion that women don't realize how hard it is to raise a child alone is ridiculous. …Where is the study on the benefits of being raised in a single-parent home or of having multiple parental figures in your life?
- DailyTech – Tennessee Pushes Legislation to Safeguard Anti-Evolution Teachers
- To be fair, they are not alone. Followers of fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East also believe in a young Earth and rebuke the idea that life evolved naturally over millions of years. …
The Republican-controlled Tennessee House has proposed a controversial new law entitled HB 368 Dunn/SB 893 Watson. The bill states:…
[My bookmarks live at delicious.com/camryl. In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Also, signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
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