SENATVS POPVLVSQVE AMERICANVS

If you ever wondered why the Senate is so much on the news and why very little seems to happen there, I strongly recommend you read this report from The New Yorker, which attempts to answer the question, 'Just how broken is the Senate?'

I'll let you discover for yourself. But here's a preview:

Even if the freshmen Democrats can somehow reform the filibuster next January, the Senate will remain a sclerotic, wasteful, unhappy body. The deepest source of its problems is not rules and precedents but, rather, its human beings, who have created a culture where Tocqueville’s “lofty thoughts” and “generous impulses” have no place.

What Climate Change?!

I'm sure many Californians right now are saying, 'where is global warming?' I have an answer: it's already here. And although you may not feel it in the temperatures and general conditions as of late, look up the definition of 'weather' and 'climate' and reconsider.

For those in the rest of the United States, the case for global warming might be easier to make. As the country swelters, and as crops dry up from the Great Plains to the steppes of Asia, people are coming to terms with the reality of higher temperatures worldwide and their immediate consequences. While many lobbyists and the politicians they have in their pocket will tell you otherwise, stop and think for a moment. 2010 has been, on average, the hottest year on record, second only to 2005, third to 1998. Notice a trend?

In spite of this and regardless of his promise to act on this ever-threatening problem, Obama's White House has given in to pressure and opted for a better score in the popularity contest rather than the right choice on the issue. As the planet cooks—to borrow Paul Krugman's phrase—the Obama administration falters on its promise to deliver what it had pledged to pursue during the campaign. And, although a lot of good legislation has passed in the past year and a half—despite Republican obstructionism might I add—it is worth reminding everyone that it was not as strong as it could have been or need have been.

Unfortunately for us and our posterity, the climate bill will not even get the luxury of a dilution in the Senate. Obama needs to think this through again, unless he wants to alienate Democratic and progressive voters in the upcoming and in the 2012 elections.

What Bunning's Butting In Causes

Doctors cannot get reimbursed for Medicare, thanks to a recalcitrant senator from Kentucky. Not to mention the millions who rely on unemployment benefits across the nation who are now left high and dry.

Democracy Inaction

If democracy means having the Senate in a Republican chokehold and therefore not being able to pass 290 bills that have already passed the House, Democrats had better rethink things and grow some testicular glands....

(Found through Think Progress)

Healthcare Reform Faltering

Keith Olbermann's plea voices my concerns if the healthcare reform bill, as it currently stands, passes both houses of Congress. Don't do it!

Obama will lose my next vote if this passes and he signs it.

History of Sorts...

Welcome to today's United States of America, where 'history' is simply voting to debate—not pass, but merely debate—a life-saving measure that fulfills, in part, government's duty to that measure vis-à-vis its citizens.

Let's hope true history is made soon....

Stambolli digjet, k**** krihet

The title above is an expression in Albanian that would encapsulate Congress's latest shameful act very well. Loosely translated, it says, 'Istanbul burns and the whore finds time to comb her hair.'

The whore in this case is Congress itself, who, in the midst of this financial crisis, finds the time to increase the budget for its own expenditures.

For shame!

Congress and Lobbyists

Ever wonder why there are Democrats (assuming it makes sense that Republicans act this way) that so staunchly oppose healthcare reform? Look no further. They are fattened up by money from health insurance corporations and seem intent on voting against reform, despite support for it among their constituents, and, if you ask me, not because of ideology.

Here are the shares they get from the healthcare industry:

And why would health insurance companies do this, you ask? Because without any limits on premiums and conditions for their coverage, they can do this: increase premiums by 29% just like that.

On more positive related news, lobbyists are feeling the pinch of the economy on their derrières and no longer have the clout to which they had been accustomed until now (via Huffington Post). Nevertheless, lobbyists have been unleashed on congressmen and congresswomen and are pulling strings left and right to influence their votes.

Meanwhile, Rep. Henry Waxman of California is tightening the purse strings for money going to drug companies in trying to cut a deal with the industry in question, which aims to save billions of dollars in the future.

In remembrance of Sen. Ted Kennedy and his incorruptible struggle for healthcare reform:

Image Source

My Fellow Americans

A dose of truth about healthcare, supported by a strong backbone of a speech... though still weak on the importance of a public option, if you ask me:

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Healthcare

Last night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann had a special comment on what Olbermann termed as 'legislators for sale'—those who pose resistance to any plans for a public health insurance option, Democrats and Republicans alike—relating their resistance to the amount of money they have received in donations from health insurance, drug companies, etc..

I posted a chart a few days ago on the health sector's contributions to legislators, which showed that they ebb and flow depending on the majority in Congress. Olbermann goes so far as to name congressmen and congresswomen who, as he puts it himself, 'have sold their soul.'

I believe I'd say the same if I believed in a soul.

Why Healthcare Bills Are Hard to Pass

This blog post illustrates why healthcare always has titanic hurdles to overcome and why it might even fail in the final vote this time around.

Is money the only force that drives policies in Washington?