When I’ve thought about the risks of the Obama being a “worse” president than Bush, it comes down to his irrevolutionary temperament and his Chicago-forged ability and desire to negotiate with his worst enemies to achieve compromise.  This, plus the inherent tendency of power to protect its prerogatives and expand through all available avenues like [...]

I know I’ve been glib in the past about letting the Confederacy re-confederate and secede, enabling the real Real America to become the progressive bastion it has every right to be, but the similar proposal to let states opt out of the public option is a horrible idea.
If used as a bargaining chip to assure [...]

From the Department of Revealing Remarks, Phil Gingrey, hyper right-wing Republican from the frightening state of Georgia, speaking about the children of illegal immigrants:
“A lot of their kids are in the school system…They get a free public education without any question.  My constituents don’t want the same thing to happen with regard to health care.”
Could [...]

Barack Obama is toying with a dubious distinction, that he might shortly be a worse president than Bush.
I’m certainly not in a calm state of mind as I write that, but I believe it to be true.  Of course, for sheer idiocy and embarrassment, only a President Palin could out-hustle Bush.  But Obama’s catastrophic mishandling [...]

I know Ted Kennedy was a god among mortals and all that, but in my politically sentient lifetime I don’t really remember him doing all that much.  I know he was instrumental during the 2003 Medicare drug expansion, but I also recall that that has since been highly derided and in any case bipartisanship is [...]

Open Left has a whip count on the public option, showing which senators support it.  Neat work.
There are 45 supporters; all are Democrats.  There are 16 maybes: Republicans Olympia Snowe and Johnny Isakson (blowing my mind, that), and 13 Democrats (Begich, Lincoln, Pryor, Carper, both Nelsons, Bayh, Landrieu, Baucus, Tester, Conrad, Wyden and Warner).  Robert [...]

So that was an embarrassing flap for Investor’s Business Daily a few weeks ago, blah blah blah you heard it here last.  But now that it’s blown through town and left, I can’t believe nobody pointed out that a major problem with it is how apparently, it’s okay to assume that everybody amazing and important [...]

This is the best news in awhile, and it’s long overdue.  The Democrats need to realize that if the tables were turned, they would be completely shut out of the entire legislative process like a minority party in a European parliament.  There is no need to consult the Republicans, who have been thoroughly repudiated in [...]

Well, after about a year and a half of liberal euphoria and self-congratulations, it’s obvious that this country is deeply fucked.  It doesn’t matter what electoral success the Democrats enjoy, because they actual progressives are few and far between.  The public option is not going to happen, and without it, any health care legislation that [...]