Recently in Politics Category

Ben Nelson is on board as of this morning:"Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas. ...Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with Nelson on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. But...

From Move On, a great portrayal  of Joe Lieberman and his self serving flip flops.  Posted for your entertainment without further comment:...

Team blogged by eljefebob and Desperado:Today, John McCain showed his faulty memory again when he chided Senator Al Franken, acting as acting president of the Senate, for shutting down Senator Joe Lieberman as he bloviated about health care, falsely asserting that he was concerned about prople getting health insurance.  McCain got irritated, saying, "I've been around here 20-some years. First time I've ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his...

First I want to thank everybody for your comments on yesterday's post. Sorry I couldn't jump in but sometimes work gets in the way. The debate between "kill the bill" and "pass it and fix it later" is a good one with valid points to be made on both sides. That's why I like the forum we have here at the Hurricane so much. We can disagree with each other and have a substantive discussion...

As I look around the political landscape today, illustrated perfectly by the complete chaos that the health care reform debate has evolved into, I have to ask myself, what the hell happened? How did the Obama presidency, which had so much promise and potential for becoming the "change" that so many of us voted for and hoped for, turn into such a mess? How did this happen to a president who was elected in what...

So what's left? No public option, no Medicare buy-in, thanks to President Lieberman. The 90% medical loss ratio? That's dead, too. The Dorgan amendment on drug importation comes up for a vote today. Look for that to disappear as well. The ban on denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and recission is still there so far, but then again President Lieberman isn't through making demands yet. Stay tuned. But have no fear, the individual mandate...

Dear President Obama and Senator Reid, This is what happens when you make a deal with a snake. Sooner or later you're very likely to get bitten. November 17, 2008: "Senate Democrats appear willing to let Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, keep his powerful Homeland Security Committee chairmanship, even though he campaigned vigorously for Sen. John McCain's White House bid...Several lawmakers involved in the discussions over Lieberman's fate credited President-elect Barack Obama's desire to keep Lieberman...

Not being a resident of the city of Houston, but having been born there and having lived there until 4 years ago, I was an interested observer of yesterday's run-off election for mayor. Reading 2 accounts of the results, one in the New York Times and one in the Houston Chronicle, the opening paragraph in the Chronicle puts the election in much better context, in my opinion. The NYT:"Houston became the largest city in the...

Although the details of the "compromise" (aka sellout) on the public option reached by the Senate yesterday have yet to be released, here's my take on what I've seen so far. This is what we get when we have a malfunctioning body known as the United States Senate which is in reality a wholly-owned subsidiary of the big insurance companies.  We get a Medicare buy-in that's not really Medicare and not really a buy-in, is...

This is a difficult time of year for many, and my family is no exception.A time of year that should be filled with peace, love and joy instead brings feelings of anguish, despair and loneliness to some. Family dysfunction is elevated to exponential highs. Some overindulge, over imbibe, or overcompensate as a result. My family certainly isn't immune from dysfunction, and we've managed our varying "toxicity" levels in different ways. Some withdraw ... sometimes...