Evans Politics, October 22, 2009

See Watch Franken slice and dice the nice wingnut lady, Daily Kos, October 22, 2009, by Kevvboy: From the YouTube video description: “Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) humbles Hudson Institute dilettante over health care bankruptcies. This during a senate Judiciary sub-committee hearing on bankruptcies driven by catastrophic medical expenses.” I believe the figure is that 50 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical expenses. ~ PE

Evans Politics, October 22, 2009

AlJazeeraEnglish video – 5:26

The Continuing, Dark Aftermath
of the Obscene “Operation Cast Lead”

Verdict: Windows 7 is the Real Deal!
Evans Politics, October 22, 2009

CBS News Video – 3:15

Just click the MoveOn.org image, above.

Evans Politics, October 22, 2009

AT&T’s Hilarious and Shameless
Astroturfing (or Sock-Puppeting)

Evans Politics, October 22, 2009

AT&T’s Hilarious and Shameless Astroturfing (or Sock-Puppeting), AlterNet, October 21, 2009, by Tana Ganeva, quoted verbatim:

“AT&T has a really good (and democratic) plan to undermine FCC regulations in support of net neutrality: pressuring employees to post anti-regulation talking points on an FCC website while hiding their affiliation to the cable company. Grassroots!

“In an internal company memo obtained by Free Press, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President James Cicconi writes “We encourage you, your family and friends to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet. It can be done through a personal email account by going to www.openinternet.gov and clicking on the “Join the Discussion” link.” (italics added).

“That should totally work, because ordinary citizens are often inspired to make impassioned pleas about ISP regulatory policy.

“The memo also helpfully provides talking points “in addition to your own thoughts,” such as:

America’s wireless consumers enjoy the broadest range of innovative services and devices, lowest prices, highest usage levels, and most choices in the world. Why disrupt a market that’s working so well?

“An oligopoly totally lacking in transparency? Really, why mess with perfection?

“Free Press has a nice-take down of some of the other “suggestions”:

Some of the talking points are hard to read without rolling your eyes.

For example: Cicconi suggests that employees write that Net Neutrality will “jeopardize efforts to deliver high-speed Internet services to every American.” Yet he’s unable to provide any rationale for this claim, other than saying that universal access is a goal that “can’t be met with rules that halt private investment in broadband infrastructure.”

Really?

AT&T is loath to mention that it made considerable network investment when it had to abide by Net Neutrality conditions, and invested considerably less when it didn’t.

As a requirement of its 2006 merger with BellSouth, AT&T agreed to operate a neutral network (by adhering to the four principles of the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement as well as a fifth principle of nondiscrimination) for two years.

AT&T’s network investments increased immediately following the imposition of the Net Neutrality merger condition and continued to rise over the two years of the merger agreement. When the neutrality condition expired on Dec. 29, 2008, the company sharply reduced its investment.

So when Cicconi says that Net Neutrality means no buildout, the opposite is true.

By pressuring the company’s employees to pose as average citizens and post AT&T talking points, Cicconi is asking them to be doubly deceptive. Not only are they asked to hide their true identities but also to spread misinformation on behalf of a company that seems to be getting more desperate by the day.

*****

Watch Glenn Beck on Net Neutrality, 10-20-2009, YouTube video – 6:22

Watch Net Neutrality, a great overall explanation of what’s at stake - 2:50

FCC To Push ‘Net Neutrality’ – Bloomberg

Obama Administration Moves Against
Health Insurers, Big Banks

U.S. to Order Steep Pay Cuts
at Firms That Got Most Aid

U.S. to Order Steep Pay Cuts at Firms That Got Most Aid, ©The New York Times, October 21, 2009, by Stephen Labaton, excerpt quoted verbatim:

“WASHINGTON — Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.

“Under the plan, which will be announced in the next few days by the Treasury Department, the seven companies that received the most assistance will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately.

“And for the 25 best-paid executives, the total compensation, which includes bonuses, will drop, on average, by about 50 percent.

“The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.

“At the financial products division of A.I.G., the locus of problems that plagued the large insurer and forced its rescue with more than $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, a stunning decline from previous years in which the unit produced many wealthy executives and traders.

“In contrast to previous years, an official said, executives in the financial products division will receive no other compensation, like stocks or stock options.” ….

Read the full article, here.

*****

Democrats Go After Anti-Trust Exemption for Insurers

Democrats Go After Anti-Trust Exemption for Insurers, © Associated Press; Truthout, October 21, 2009, by David Espo (AP), excerpt quoted verbatim:

“Washington – Democrats launched a drive at both ends of the Capitol on Wednesday to strip the insurance industry of its decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws, part of an increasingly bare-knuckled struggle over landmark health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama.

“If enacted, the change would put an end to “price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation in the health and medical malpractice” insurance areas, said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy said he would seek a vote on the plan when the Senate debates health care legislation in the next few weeks.

“Leahy made his comments at the same time the House Judiciary Committee voted 20-9 to end an industry exemption that dates to 1945. Three Republicans supported the move.”

Read more on the Democrats call for stripping the anti-trust exemption for health insurors, here.

Evans Politics, October 21, 2009
Daily Kos TV video – 7:27

Headlines to check out

Evans Politics, October 21, 2009

Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 10/20/09, Daily Kos, October 20, 2009, by Steve Singiser.

Half of Republicans Think Obama Doesn’t Love America, Salon, The War Room, October 20, 2009, by Alex Koppelman.

Exclusive: U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets, Wired.com Danger Room, October 19, 2009, by Noah Schactman:

“America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon.

“In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media. It’s part of a larger movement within the spy services to get better at using ”open source intelligence” — information that’s publicly available, but often hidden in the flood of TV shows, newspaper articles, blog posts, online videos and radio reports generated every day.” ….

As Time Runs Short for Global Climate Treaty, Nations May Settle for Interim Steps, The New York Times, October 20, 2009, by John M. Broder.

WaPo Poll: Majority Wants Public Option More Than Bipartisanship for Its Own Sake, WhoRunsGov, The Plum Line, October 19, 2009, by Greg Sargeant.

The waiting is the hardest part, Salon, October 21, 2009, by Mike Madden: “Don’t worry, Senate Democrats and the White House say, healthcare negotiations will be done soon enough.”

Democrats Hold Lead in Political Ballot, Taegan Goddards Political Wire, October 20, 2009, by Taegan Goddard: “Greg Sargeant digs through the internals of the new Washington Post/ABC News poll and finds the GOP is ‘in the same position as it was heading into the 2008 and 2006 elections, both of which resulted in crippling landslide losses for the Republican Party.’”

Steele: We Don’t Need Comprehensive Health Care Reform, Talking Points Memo LiveWire, October 19, 2009, by Rachel Slajda.

Costs of the Freak Show, Talking Points Memo Editor’s Blog, October 19, 2009, by Josh Marshall: “The Secret Service is getting tasked with investigating so many different threats to President Obama’s life that it lacks the budget and staff to keep up with them all.”

CBO Seals the Deal: Pelosi Moving on Robust P.O. [Info Added], October 20, 2009, by MeMeMeMeMe.

With New Afghan Vote, Path to Stability Is Unclear, The New York Times, October 20, 2009, by Sabrina Tavernese, Mark Landler and Helene Cooper.

U.S. decision can’t wait for Afghan legitimacy: Gates, Reuters, October 19, 2009, by Phil Stewart.

Update: Pentagon gives 3,500 Iowa troops orders to Afghanistan, The DesMoines Register, October 20, 2009: “About 3,500 Iowa National Guard soldiers from 31 communities are scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan later next year for a deployment that will touch families, employers and many other people statewide, military officials said today.”

Senate approves move of Guantanamo detainees to U.S., Salon, The War Room, October 20, 2009, by Alex Koppelman.

Pelosi Prepares To Move Ahead
With Robust Public Option

Evans Politics, October 21, 2009

Pelosi Prepares to Move Ahead With Robust Public Option, Talking Points Memo DC, October 20, 2009, by Brian Beutler, large excerpt quoted verbatim:

“A preliminary analysis from CBO may have sealed the deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to move ahead with a ‘robust’ public option–one that reimburses hospitals and providers at Medicare rates, plus five percent–in the House’s health care bill. She is briefing her caucus about the plan’s savings tonight, and, pending the approval of a sufficient majority of members, will adopt the measure as part of the complete reform package.

“The analysis finds the reconstituted House proposal to be deficit neutral, and require about $870 billion in new spending, over ten years.

“The bill remains nominally more expensive than the Senate Finance Committee proposal, but would cover 96 percent of all Americans, providing greater bang for each federal dollar spent. And, aides note, the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate will be a hybrid of the Finance and more expensive HELP Committee bills, so the price is expected to rise.

“The move is sure to make progressives ecstatic, and puts Senate leaders, who have been unable to reach any decisions about a public option in their own bill, in an uncomfortable position.” ….

See Dems Keep Quiet As Leaders Hash Out Key Health Care Details, Talking Points Memo, October 20, 2009, by Brian Beutler.

See Nelson: Public Option May Be Popular, But Opt-Outs Are Really Popular, Talking Points Memo, October 20, 2009, by Brian Beutler: Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE): “‘Well, there are different kinds of public options…. What was interesting in the poll numbers that I saw, that while there’s support for public option generally, generically, when you start talking about it specifically as it relates to states being able to opt out or opt in, have their own, the support overwhelmingly goes up to 76 percent.’”

COMMENT by Paul Evans: While opt-outs by states are popular, at least these don’t represent the false non-options comprised by Co-ops or triggers. If that is absolutely necessary to get this bill passed with SOME kind of a public option in the Senate, I guess we would have to live with that. Then let the Neanderthals in the Repuglican states vote the option down for their individual states. Stupid idiots — if they’re too stupid to support it in their states, I guess they’ll have to live without it. Mind you, the Pelosi House bill is NOT going to have opt outs in it. The problem is the Senate (there are five Blue Dog Democrats in the Senate who don’t seem to be able to convince themselves to support any public option. And Harry Reid isn’t helping matters: he’s playing coy and trying to smell what way the wind is blowing. The man doesn’t have half the backbone that Nancy Pelosi does!

Let’s say “HI” to Senator Reid, shall we, and give him a friendly little shove in the right direction: Phone: 202-224-3542   Fax: 202-224-7327