Health Insurance Denied

I’ve been denied health care coverage (Blue Cross and Celtic), for the crime of having prior conditions.  It is therefore with bitter attachment I watch our government fight over health care reform.  If they wanted to, Republicans and Democrats could join together and pass a simple bill: Insurers should not be allowed to pick and [...]

The Porn Bailout?!

This is fucked up.  Via HuffPost: An article in next month’s Atlantic asks, “Is porn recession proof?” According to porn magnate Larry Flynt and “Girls Gone Wild” king Joe Francis, the answer is no. TMZ reports that the pornographer pair is heading to Washington to ask for a $5 billion porn bailout: “With all this [...]

Obama Shifts on Change, Says he Might Back Status Quo

SINCERITY BEACH, Fla. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday he would be willing to support much of the status quo if that’s what it takes to push some of his minor ideas for changes through Congress. Shifting from his clarion call for change, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get [...]

Is Karl Rove Above the Law?

Karl Rove skipped out on a subpoena.  Will he be held accountable for breaking the law?  From a Brave New Films advisory (emphasis mine): LOS ANGELES – A coalition of organizations has launched a new campaign urging the House Judiciary Committee to hold Karl Rove in contempt and send him to jail.  In a clear [...]

Spying on Americans: Strike Back

Anyone in Congress voting to give telecoms immunity does not deserve to remain in office.  The deal brokered under heavy influence of lobbyist cash from the industry is a deep betrayal of the trust we put in our elected officials to represent us in government.  Slashdot: Bimo_Dude writes “Today (June 20), Steny Hoyer is bringing [...]

Bush Planning Fake Treaty For Permanent Occupation of Iraq

Jonathan Schwarz has an important piece up on the Bush Administration’s attempt to override the wishes of our own Legislative branch and the Iraqi Parliament and set up a permanent occupation (emphasis mine): A majority of the Iraqi parliament wants the US to leave Iraq, and for several years has been trying to prevent the [...]

Jim Web: Sue the President

Born Fighting wasn’t just a campaign slogan.  This guy is still swinging (HuffPost): Sen. Jim Webb thinks legal action against the Bush administration may be needed if the president pursues a long-term military presence in Iraq without Congress’ approval. “I’m not convinced we don’t need to have a lawsuit ready,” Webb told the Huffington Post. [...]

CNN, Iran, Republicans and Ron Paul

For everything else about the candidate, he’s absolutely right about war. How sad that this is would even stand out. In the recent Republican debate, candidates were asked about the President ordering strikes on Iran without authorization from congress: The other topic that sparked fireworks was a provocative, albeit hypothetical, point of constitutional interpretation — [...]

DHS to Share Spy Satellite Data

This is very worrying (via Lindsay, Majikthise): My latest article is up at In These Times. It’s about the move to disseminate highly classified military spy satellite data to a wider range of civilian clients. The National Applications Office, which is schedule to go live on October 1, is an office within the Department of [...]

Republicans to DC: You Aren’t Allowed to Vote

The Republicans blocked a vote to allow representation of DC in Congress: Republican lawmakers yesterday blocked the Senate from taking up the D.C. vote bill, a potentially fatal setback for the District’s most promising effort in years to get a full member of Congress. They had no fucking reason other than the fear that the [...]

Stop The Madness: 9/11 For Iraq, Iraq For Iran

Its the anniversary of 9/11.  The hole is still there (August Pollack).  So is the massive invasion Bush began planning for right after 9/11 (Amanda Marcotte, Pandagon): I can tell you one thing most people won’t be saying: “How can we use this attack that was orchestrated mostly by Saudis and ordered by the Saudi [...]

Goodbye Gonzales (See You In Court)

Alberto Gonzales has resigned.  While I’m happy to see him leave, the next guy isn’t likely to be Johnny Justice: For starters, W. will try to put one person forward, the dems will nix them, and W. will appoint in the middle of the next vacation of congress. This person will simply replace gonzales and [...]

Goodbye Property Rights, Hello Executive Order

The Treasury Secretary can order your property rights suspended without trial, evidence, or notice (Emily, YOUTHinkLeft): Bush has just issued an Executive Order titled “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq” which states that the Treasury Secretary is now solely responsible for deciding who is and who is not a real [...]

Healthcare: Bush vs Children

George Bush must just hate children.  And who can blame him?  Those bastard knee-biters might cost him his soaring popularity amongst the common folk.  He’s threatening to veto a bill to expand and sustain health care coverage for poor children: The bill would ensure that health coverage continues for some 6.6 million children currently enrolled [...]

We WANT Partisanship, but Without the Gridlock

Susan Collins is, like much of the DC establishment, spinning her way out of touch with the American public.  I caught this quote at the end of a Boston Globe article: “I think one of the messages that the voters sent last fall that Congress has not heeded is that they’re tired of partisan gridlock. [...]