Citigroup's Shocking 'Plutonomy' Reports -- h/t Michael Moore

From Daily Kos here.

Sun Oct 04, 2009 at 05:10:58 AM PDT

I went to see Michael Moore's new movie, "Capitalism - A Love Story".

It was moving, funny, and educational, all rolled into one. It made me feel both, proud and sad, to be an American. ... but it's recommended viewing if you still want to take OUR Country back, from the Powers that Be.

There are many lessons to be learned from the film -- But the one that struck me, the one I'm motivated to write about now --

Is the Lesson of Plutonomy ... aka. that Top One Percent ...

• jamess's diary :: ::
• 
  

Plutonomy, perhaps like me, you've not heard much about this term, except in the occasional poorly defined rant. Well it's a word we should all learn more about -- since it's one of the new "code words" the uber-rich use to maintain their "high stations" in life.

Plutonomy

n. An economy that is driven by or that disproportionately benefits wealthy people, or one where the creation of wealth is the principal goal.
[Blend of pluto- (wealth) and economy.]

http://www.wordspy.com/...

In a report called "The Plutonomy Symposium Rising Tides Lifting Yachts," Ajay Kapur, Citigroup's global strategist, says the balance sheets of the rich are "in great shape, and will get much better," which is why he recommends going out and buying stocks of companies that cater to that very select market.

Spending by the uber-rich overwhelms that of the average consumer and helps explain why the U.S. economy has continued to do well and the U.S. dollar hasn't collapsed even in the face of the current federal budget deficit, a negative savings rate, global imbalances and high energy prices, he says. The United States is one of the plutonomy countries countries whose economies are powered by a relatively small number of rich people.

- Angela Barnes, "Want wealth? Invest in the uber-rich," The Globe and Mail, October 2, 2006

http://www.wordspy.com/...

You see Michael Moore highlights a confidential report that Citigroup initially circulated only to its wealthiest customers. Those reports, since leaked, plainly discuss the power of the Plutonomy in America, and how it would only strengthen, as long as the "the rest us" (the non-plutonics) could be kept in the dark about the Plutonomy existence, its role, and its over-arching control in the American Economy.

Even though the Plutonomy (the top 1%) control over 50% of the net worth in America -- they don't control the Votes!

The thing they most fear is the principle of "one person -- one vote".

You see despite their extreme wealth and power, they only have 1% of the vote; "the rest us" control the other 99% of the votes. So if we ever caught on and, I don't know, maybe raised their taxes back to where it use to be (40-90% range), well maybe they couldn't have a Yacht in every city, or a Mansion in a half dozen states. Maybe they couldn't "lose count" of how many homes they owned.

Well I tried to locate the confidential Citigroup reports cited in the film, and think that these next two links are them. Remember these Reports were NOT meant for consumption by us "common folk".

Citigroup Plutonomy Report Part 1
Oct 16, 2005

- The World is dividing into two blocs - the Plutonomy and the rest.

The U.S., UK, and Canada are the key Plutonomies - economies powered by the wealthy. Continental Europe (ex-Italy) and Japan are in the egalitarian bloc.

- Equity risk premium embedded in "global imbalances" are unwarranted.

In plutonomies the rich absorb a disproportionate chunk of the economy and have a massive impact on reported aggregate numbers like savings rates, current account deficits, consumption levels, etc.

This imbalance in inequality expresses itself in the standard scary "global imbalances". We worry less.

- There is no "average consumer" in a Plutonomy.
[...]
Indeed, traditional thinking is likely to have issues with most of it. We will posit that:

1. the world is dividing into two blocs - the plutonomies, where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, and the rest.

Plutonomies have occurred before in sixteenth century Spain, in seventeenth century Holland, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties in the U.S.

What are the common drivers of Plutonomy?

Disruptive technology-driven productivity gains,
creative financial innovation,
capitalist-friendly cooperative governments,
an international dimension of immigrants and
overseas conquests invigorating wealth creation,
the rule of law, and
patenting inventions.

Often these wealth waves involve great complexity, exploited best by the rich and educated of the time.

2. We project that the plutonomies (the U.S., UK, and Canada) will likely see even more income inequality, disproportionately feeding off a further rise in the profit share in their economies, capitalist-friendly governments, more technology-driven productivity, and globalization.

[...]

4. In a plutonomy there is no such animal as "the U.S. consumer" or "the UK consumer", or indeed the "Russian consumer".

There are rich consumers, few in number, but disproportionate in the gigantic slice of income and consumption they take. There are the rest, the "non-rich", the multitudinous many, but only accounting for surprisingly small bites of the national pie. [...] i.e., focus on the "average" consumer are flawed from the start.

http://www.scribd.com/...

Here's the key part, mentioned in the Moore film, where CitiGroup frets about us pesky "laborers" could some day push-back, that we might demand fair treatment and pay for all our productivity:

Citigroup Plutonomy Report Part 2
Mar 5 2006

RISKS -- WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
Our whole plutonomy thesis is based on the idea that the rich will keep getting richer. This thesis is not without its risks. For example, a policy error leading to asset deflation, would likely damage plutonomy. Furthermore, the rising wealth gap between the rich and poor will probably at some point lead to a political backlash. Whilst the rich are getting a greater share of the wealth, and the poor a lesser share, political enfrachisement remains as was -- one person, one vote (in the plutonomies). At some point it is likely that labor will fight back against the rising profit share of the rich and there will be a political backlash against the rising wealth of the rich. This could be felt through higher taxation on the rich (or indirectly though higher corporate taxes/regulation) or through trying to protect indigenous [home-grown] laborers, in a push-back on globalization -- either anti-mmigration, or protectionism. We don’t see this happening yet, though there are signs of rising political tensions. However we are keeping a close eye on developments.

http://www.scribd.com/...

The arrogance displayed, as Citigroup sees their iron grip, slipping, yet scheming to hang on to that Plutonic Control -- is truly appalling ... and a bit frightening too. It's as if we, the other 99%, are merely the cogs in their grand design. And as long as any worker push-back, can be held in check -- well No Worries, then. They get to keep that Capitalistic Money Machine humming along fine, Cha-Ching!

This Citigroup message of catering to the needs of the Plutonomy, once it got out, hasn't been lost on the Wall Street Journal crowd, although our National News Media, hasn't really reported on it much, have they?

The Wealth Report
Plutonomics
Robert Frank looks at the lives and culture of the wealthy.
By Robert Frank, Wall Street Journal - Jan 8, 2007

It’s well known that the rich have an outsized influence on the economy.

The nation’s top 1% of households own more than half the nation’s stocks, according to the Federal Reserve. They also control more than $16 trillion in wealth — more than the bottom 90%.

Yet a new body of research from Citigroup suggests that the rich have other, more-surprising impacts on the economy.
[...]
"The Plutonomy is here, is going to get stronger, its membership swelling" he wrote in one research note. "Toys for the wealthy have pricing power, and staying power."
[...]
Of course, Kapur says there are risks to the Plutonomy, including war, inflation, financial crises, the end of the technological revolution and populist political pressure. Yet he maintains that the "the rich are likely to keep getting even richer, and enjoy an even greater share of the wealth pie over the coming years."

All of which means that, like it or not, inequality isn’t going away and may become even more pronounced in the coming years. The best way for companies and businesspeople to survive in Plutonomies, Kapur implies, is to disregard the "mass" consumer and focus on the increasingly rich market of the rich.

A tough message — but one worth considering.

http://blogs.wsj.com/...

Nice, eh!? ... well not really.

What was it they fear most, again?

The principle of "one person -- one vote"?

Say, NOW that's NICE! ... that could one day be the People taking our Country back.

......................... also posted on DocuDharma

......................... and on on ProgressiveBlue

Saturday night

Bought some new work clothes today at Macy's up at Aventura. I hadn't bought any in quite some time and was in need. I dread shopping for clothes but today went pretty well. Got four shirts and four pairs of slacks. I had no idea they were having a 20% off sale today, so I really lucked out there.

In between buying the slacks and the shirts, I caught a movie. I was hungry and thirsty by the time I'd bought the slacks and had planned to go to Johnny Rockets, which is directly across from the movie theaters. I quickly checked the movies and times. Michael Moore's "Capitalism" was starting up in 15 minutes, so I decided to go see it. Quickly grabbed a Kiwi Banana "Dutch Ice" and drank that out in the mall. In the theater, I bought a white cherry Icee and a hot dog.

I'd not planned on going to see this movie but I'm glad I did. (More on that later.)

After the movie was over, I had plenty of time to continue with my shopping. (Macy's closes at 9:30.) I was out of there maybe a little past 9:00 and then stopped by the BK at Loehman's (sp?) for a bacon double cheeseburger, another Icee, and potato Cheesy Puffs (I'd never had them before and don't recommend).

Washing my new clothes now.

[Later] Love my new clothes. Very muted and neutral stuff. I tried on loads of things.

What really grabbed me about Michael Moore's move was the idea of a "plutonomy." (See next post.) It's like a Dan Brown cabal, or something out of a James Bond movie. Ronald Reagan really did wreck this country (in addition to killing off a lot of gays by ignoring the AIDS health crisis). He was just a shill for the corporatists (the plutomonists) and a panderer to the Religious Right. He was an idiot.

It's time we got our democracy back in control of our lives. I highly recommend this movie. Maybe Michael Moore will get the Nobel Prize someday.

Obama's Saturday Address

'Good healthcare policy makes good politics -- and vice versa'

"Forget Olympia Snowe. Pass the right healthcare bill and voters will reward you"

Story by David Sirota here

Friday night

Enough politics for now. Watching "20/20". Brutal killing spree in Sonoma 20 years ago.

Looking forward to the cold front coming in tomorrow. I'll blog it for sure.

More Health Care Tea Leaves From Harkin, Lincoln

By David Dayen here.

Ezra Klein writes today that the blending of the two health care bills into one for the Senate floor will be a true blend – those issues where both the HELP Committee and the Finance Committee weighed in will result in one compromise or other, and other issues where only one committee addressed them will largely go with the approach from that committee.

However, a couple issues may have to be solved on the floor, particularly with respect to financing for the bill. On a conference call today sponsored by Families USA, Tom Harkin, the chair of the HELP Committee (but not the lead negotiator in the merging sessions, because Chris Dodd largely shepherded the bill through committee at that time) suggested that Democrats would modify the excise tax on high-end insurance plans, which only appears in the Finance Committee version of the bill, and that they may look at the House provisions to fund the bill, including a surtax on people making over $350,000 a year.

This would come as news to President Olympia Snowe of the United States of Maine, who wants all the money in the bill to come from inside the health care system. But Harkin believed that Democrats would look outside the system as well for additional financing, considering the excise tax too punitive on middle-class workers who may have given up wage increases for better benefits, or those with long-term chronic illnesses who need stellar coverage.

The tension here comes between lowering the excise tax and wanting to ensure affordability of coverage for all Americans; the two necessarily conflict. Ultimately, the money for subsidies has to come from somewhere, one of the major battles in the debate.

Later in the call, Harkin gave a nod of support to the “opt-out” compromise, while maintaining a preference for a nationally available plan. And he made the case for allowing the interests of the majority to take precedence over the interests of a few in the caucus:

There are 52 solid Democrats for a public option and only about five Democrats really kind of opposed to it… One has to ask if the 52 should give into the five or if the five should come on board with the vast majority. I think the answer is clear.

Blanche Lincoln, one of those five in opposition, threw some support behind triggers to local reporters in Arkansas today, though she didn’t even fully support that. Again, nobody asked her the key question – would she invoke cloture, even if the bill didn’t include everything she wanted.

…Lincoln has an online chat with constituents about health care scheduled for tomorrow. Details here. Maybe some readers would want to ask the Senator something or other.

Time to Throw Some Elbows on Health Care Reform, Mr. President

From Firedoglake here.

It’s becoming obvious now that the protracted drama of the Senate Finance Committee, long feared to be the beginning of the end for meaningful healthcare reform, really was just the end of the beginning. Now that a version of the bill has been pried loose from Sen. “Max Tax” Baucus and his committee, the real negotiations — and posturing — have started.

That’s why Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh are making noises about not ruling out a filibuster — but hey, they can be bribed persuaded not to join one, too!– and why Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer (and Nancy Pelosi, on the House side) are applying pressure in the media for a robust public option. Everyone’s jockeying for position.

Jon Walker’s post at FDL Action today sums up the state of play nicely with a quote from Tom Harkin:

There are 52 solid Democrats for a public option and only about five Democrats really kind of opposed to it…. One has to ask if the 52 should give into the five or if the five should come on board with the vast majority.

And you know what? That’s how everyone knew (or should have known) this was going to wind up back in January — with a handful of faux-centrist Senators threatening to sabotage a Democratic president for at least the third straight time, and everyone else wondering how to get around that obstacle.

But this also means that of all people, Barack Obama should have a plan for how to deal with this situation. I’ve been more naive optimistic than most of the writers here, holding out hope that Obama really does want a public option in the final healthcare bill — not out of his innate progressive nature or the goodness of his heart (always a bad bet when it comes to politicians), but due to his own stated recognition that whatever passes needs to work, or he’s going to pay the political price for the resulting fiasco just as surely as if the bill had been defeated.

That’s why I’m not surprised to read that Harry Reid is reportedly working behind the scenes “for the best possible public option coming out of conference” (though those last four words are worth noting, and perhaps being alarmed over), or to see Nancy Pelosi’s forthright defense of a public option yesterday just before appearing with President Obama at two events in San Francisco (where his praise of her would seem odd if she’d just thrown his alleged secret desire to kill the public option under the bus).

But now’s the time for Obama to stop forcing us to imagine what his real intentions are. We all know how solicitous he’s been of Max Baucus’s endless delays and whatever whim Olympia Snowe chooses to express on any given day, and not openly pressuring Democratic senators who have spoken against a public option. I’ve tried to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, figuring that he’s worked directly with these bozos colleagues in the Senate and knows what preening, obnoxious assholes they are how sensitive they are to being pressured.

At the end of the day, though, he’s got to persuade them to do the right thing. And the end of the day is rapidly approaching.

Rockefeller fires warning shot at Reid

Kos on Ed Show, talking about Harry Reid

Group health insurance up 131% in decade, 10% this year

Today hottest ever so late in year

Today was another scorcher in Miami. A new record was set for this date: 94 F. The old record was 90 F. back in the '80s. The weather man on local NBC 6 also just said that today was the hottest day ever so late in the year. What a crazy month!

We're going to have a low of 58 F. on Monday, high of 78 F. That's more like it.

This chart doesn't reflect the record highs we've had lately. (Click on chart to enlarge.) Miami is definitely getting hotter, and this chart is only for the month of October. Of the 31 days in the month, only 5 record highs were set before 1980. Seven record highs were set in the 1980s. Eight were set in the 1990s. And 11 were set in the 2000s. So it's not my sense of nostalgia growing up here or my imagination or just my increasing intolerance of hot weather.

Break up the health insurance monopoly

[for Vermont]

Dear [Moi],

Health insurance giants are fighting to keep their monopoly. I need your help to break it. Please urge your members of Congress to support The Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act today.

The health insurance lobby has worked behind the scenes for months to undermine congressional efforts to fix America's broken health care system.

Now they're pulling back the curtain, waging an outrageous public campaign to kill health care reform...again.

They're running new ads. They're threatening to raise premiums if Congress passes reform.

And now America's biggest insurance companies, represented by the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) special interest group, are growing particularly concerned about our efforts to break up their monopoly.

Over 21,000 LeahyForVermont.com activists have already taken action, but we need your help today to keep up the pressure.

Please urge your members of Congress to support The Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act, which will finally repeal the out-dated insurance industry antitrust exemption.

We held a very successful hearing on this pro-competition legislation in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid testified before the Committee to express their strong support for a repeal of the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act.

They, like most Americans, believe insurance companies should be subject to the same antitrust regulations that virtually every other business in America faces.

I hope you'll join them, right now, and make your voice heard too.

Please urge your members of Congress to support The Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act today.

The only real voices opposed to lifting this peculiar exemption come from the health insurance lobby. After all, if insurance companies are forced to compete, they will have a much tougher time denying you coverage and jacking up your premiums at four times the rate of inflation.

That's why AHIP's chief lobbyist, Karen Ignagni, recently sent me a letter to tell me the insurance giants she represents will oppose our efforts to promote competition and break up insurance monopolies.

Unfortunately for her, I came to Washington to fight for all Americans, not the narrow interests of one particular industry which has put profits before people for far too long.

But I need your help to make sure my colleagues in Congress know the American people are behind my legislation.

Please urge your members of Congress to repeal the out-dated insurance industry antitrust exemption today.

In the coming weeks, the full Senate will vote on The Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act in the context of comprehensive health care reform, so please take action today.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

Unless It Gets Crazy

From Digby here.

Here's a little tidbit. Blanche Lincoln's Arkansas partner, David Mark Pryor, says he won't join Republicans in a filibuster of health care reform unless something "crazy" happens.

Mike Stark got him on camera:

Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, whose own stance on health care remains an open question, cautioned, “I think she’s been careful to say that she supports it coming out of committee, but no guarantees on final passage because it’s going to change quite a bit between now and then.”

This reporting seemed pretty useless to me, but it sounded vaguely ominous. I thought it would be a good idea ask point blank: would he support a filibuster of a Senate Health Care Reform bill? Here’s his answer:

[Watch video below]

It's an interesting back and forth, with Pryor clearly very wary of saying anything meaningful. But I think Stark's framing is excellent, especially since it got Pryor to say that he thinks that members of a majority party joining with the minority to filibuster a majority supported bill is not unprecedented --- after all, it happened during the civil rights debates to keep African Americans from having equal rights.

Now there's a tradition to be proud of...


Update: More interesting news from Arkansas:

First he was for it. Then he was against it. Now Rep. Mike Ross is back on board with a government-run healthcare plan. Sort of.

Ross (D-Ark.), who had emerged as a leader among centrist Blue Dog Democrats opposing the public health insurance option, has suggested something his colleagues consider even more drastic – opening Medicare to those under 65 without insurance.

He made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday.

"I — speaking only on behalf of myself — suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice," Ross said in a statement to The Hill.

Medicare would then compete with private insurers across the age spectrum. It would be open to those who don't have insurance through their employers, the same people who would be covered by the public option already under discussion.

That's a terrific idea. Let's do it.

After Tense Health Care Discussion, Dems Predict Unanimity On Reform

Also from TPM here.

After what Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) indicated was a tense health care discussion, Senate health care leaders declared, confidently, that the overhaul package that comes to the floor will earn every Democratic vote. However, they also made clear that the ultimate decision maker on key questions like the public option is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"Reid's making these decisions ultimately, and I think he's listening and...I feel good about it," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

"Conrad spoke out for co-ops," Brown said, "six or seven people spoke out for [the public option]," adding later that the pro-public option senators were articulating a policy preference, and not pressuring Reid to act one way or another as he weaves two competing Senate bills together. Nobody, he says, spoke out against a public plan.

Brown's confidence springs from a belief that conservative Democrats do not want to be held responsible for killing reform. "No Democrat wants to be on the wrong side of history and vote on a procedural vote to kill the most important domestic vote of their careers," Brown said.

But Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus went even further and suggested that every Democrat would ultimately vote for the final bill.

"It's clear we're going to pass health care reform this year," Baucus told reporters. "Every Democrat will vote for...health care reform and I hope that some Republicans will as well."

That belief was echoed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who, without getting specific, said that he recently held discussions with two Republican senators other than Olympia Snowe.

"I've spoken to two other Republicans today on health care...we're not writing off the Republicans," he said. Reid has said, though, that if no Republicans ultimately support reform, Democrats will pass a bill alone.

The difference between Brown's prediction and Baucus' could be crucial. A health care bill that has enough support to win the support of every Democrat will likely have a harder time retaining a public option than will a bill that keeps Democrats united against a filibuster, but then loses some support on the final vote.

Asked how the public option would fare in all this, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) kept it short. "We're doing well," Dodd said.

[Emphasis added.] Better to get a good bill with only Democratic votes than a crappy one with a couple of Republican votes. What would be the point of that? Forget Olympia Snowe. She may want to be on the right side of history but she's still an ideologue.

Thursday night

Tried to take a nap but wasn't able. I did nap some on the bus.

[Later] Time off from politics now. Watching "House Hunters International." They're in Costa Rica tonight. Roasted a sirloin tip roast tonight. Good.

Now "Real Estate Intervention," a new one. 100% financing at the top of the market two years ago in Alexandria.

Pharmaceutical ad: "Tell your doctor if you have high blood pressure . . . ." Shouldn't your doctor take your blood pressure?

Looking forward to opening up the place again and getting some free, natural air-conditioning.

Now "the two Scotts" looking for a home in Toronto on "Property Virgins." I've seen this before but will watch it again. It's been a while.

They've been advertising "Starkist SeaSations" a lot. I highly recommend.

Is Harry Reid Working The Inside Game For A Public Option?

From TPM here.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't exactly accustomed to kind words from progressives these days. With a health care reform fight that feels endless, and an intractable bloc of conservative Democrats refusing to play nice on the public option, Reid has become a common whipping boy for activists who think he hasn't done enough to strong arm his 60 voting members into giving health care reform an up or down vote.

So it comes as some surprise that two prominent progressive figures, approached by TPMDC, said that much has changed since the summer--and particularly in the last couple weeks--and that Reid is working the inside game for the public option.

"Reid and/or his staff has been in practically hourly conversations with a whole set of progressive players re how best to make sure we position ourselves to get a strong public option coming out of conference committee," said one progressive strategist, who asked not to be named. "He hasn't made any final procedural decisions yet RE how to get that done, but he's having really honest conversations [about] all his major options, pros and cons of each, etc. I'm actually pretty impressed, at least right now."

The source adds, "He and his staff are much more engaged with both pro-public option activists and Senators over the last couple of weeks.... But he does seem to have a new sense of religion [with respect to] figuring out how to maximize our chances for the best possible public option coming out of conference."

Approached by TPMDC, a prominent progressive health care leader echoed this conclusion. "Harry Reid sincerely wants to get a public option and he's doing everything he can to figure out how," the second source added.

An optimistic Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told TPMDC, "We talk to him, he doesn't have to reach very far. He's listening, clearly Reid's listening on all this on the public option." . . .

Sherrod Brown is no BSer.

Thursday evening

One more day of this record heat tomorrow. According to the latest local weather report on TV, Miami has never had a 12-day stretch of temperatures in the 90's. Never. All the more surprising that it's happened in what's normally a nice month weather-wise.

OK, good-bye, Olympia Snowe and Max Baucus. You've had your day in the sun. Let's get down to business.

Wednesday night - Heat Wave

One more hot day and then we'll see some relief. This has been the hottest October I've ever experienced here in Miami, and I was born and raised here and have lived here most of my life. Living here, you put up with the summer heat to be able to enjoy the mild weather the rest of the year. I hope this October heat wave is an aberration and not a sign of things to come.

A couple of months ago (at the height of the summer), our department at work had a meeting with some people who had flown down from Chicago. One of them asked when the nicest time of the year was to visit Miami (obviously not the height of summer). I told her October through May. Now I may have to revise that nugget of advice in the future. (The lower temperatures that we are expecting this weekend will in fact be the lowest since May.)

Was back at the gym tonight. Did manage to get a little nap before going. I had to shut Lucky out of the bedroom, since he wasn't cooperating.

I've been napping really well on the bus since I bought my roller brief case a while back. I set the brief case on end on my lap, cross my arms on top and then rest my forehead on my arms (best to take glasses off). Tonight on the way home I was in a pretty deep sleep, interrupted only by the bell for a stop that was two stops before mine. A close call. In the past, I've slept past my stop and had to get off the bus and hop on a bus going in the opposite direction to get back home.

Not long ago, I noticed Bootsy was drinking from my water glass that I keep at the side of my bed, so I've since given him his own water glass. His kidneys are not in the best shape and he has to drink a lot of water, so he appreciates it. (Click on photo to enlarge.) It could be the heat, too, even though I keep the air-conditioning going when I'm not here (of course), though a few degrees higher. The heat still beats in, however, especially through the slider in the living room that opens onto the terrace. (Think of a glass door on an oven.) Bootsy hasn't lounged out on the terrace in a while. It's just too hot and muggy. He'll be glad when the cool weather arrives. So will Lucky.

If I didn't have the cats, I'd probably keep the place dark when I'm not here (close all the blinds) to save on electricity, especially in the summer.

We wouldn't need Olympia Snowe if the president simply told the Dems to vote the right way

From AmericaBlog here.

I was talking to a politically astute friend the other day about health care reform and Olympia Snowe, and I asked her, "could Obama get 60 Democratic votes on health care reform?" She answered: "Sure, like this." Then she poked her finger at me. Huh? All he has to do, my friend then told me, is call up the Senators and tell them how to vote. In particular, Mary Landrieu (who needs a threat) and Ben Nelson (who needs an incentive). In other words, the president of the United States of America has a quite significant ability to get his way on legislation, if he wants to. Then why isn't he?

From the comments (same link):

Obama has stated again and again he supports the public option. You are totally misunderstanding his comments towards the Baucus bill. He is just trying to get a bill, any bill through the Finance committee, and even the Senate. The Senate House Joint Conference Committee is where the actual bill that Obama wants will be formulated.
- - -
actually, the bar isnt really even that high. he only needs the 60 votes on cloture. In other words, he can say "If you vote to support a republican filibuster I will make your life miserable every way I can" But once he achieves that he only needs 50 senators plus joe biden to get the bill passed. That lets 10 senators with difficult states vote the other way after defeating the filibuster. Getting the 50 votes for a good bill would be easy.

- - -
Another point I would like to make is the Progressives in the House are not afraid of this bill going down. Their seats are secure, because they come from liberal districts. If the Dems fail to pass something it is the moderate Dems who will suffer in future elections. Both sides know this. Baucus and Conrad know the Progressives in the House are the ones in the position of power.

What you are seeing now is an elaborate kabuki theater. Both sides know what will have to eventually happen, but they have to go through the dance first.
- - -
Unfortunately in the real world, there are other votes beyond this one. If you could get both Maine girls and the moderate Dems then you are building relationships for future votes (and maybe causing a further rift in the Republican party).

I will tell you what I have told others: Obama will wait to the very last second to shove the bill down the throats of the moderates. Hopefully it won't come to that, and Obama will try to do everything to avoid that. But don't be fooled, Obama will do what he has to do to pass real reform. There is just no need to go hardcore... yet.

Anti-trust

From Digby here.

McJoan:

AHIP has excellent timing. Releasing their "report" on the eve of the Senate Finance Committee's vote on the Baucus bill had a real boomerang effect. It made the argument for the public option, as Rep. Anthony Weiner effectively argued.

Now Americans United for Change is seizing the moment with this ad, pointing out that there are only two industries exempt from anti-trust laws: baseball and insurance.

How are professional baseball and insurance companies alike? Baseball and insurance are the only industries exempt from anti-trust laws.

How are they different? Insurance industry executives are scared of competition. Baseball players aren’t.

When baseball players fix the games, they get in trouble. When health insurance executives fix the game, they get ... rich.

Time for competition when it comes to health insurance... we need the choice of a public health insurance plan.

And the last I heard, nobody died from not being allowed to go to a baseball game. I can't think of a single reason why the insurers should keep their anti-trust exemption. In fact, it seems absurd that they had one in the first place.

While it certainly would seem to make the argument for a public option much more obvious, if this move allows the Baucus plan to become the "liberal bill" I'm not so sure it was such a bad play on the part of the insurers in the long run. We'll have to see.

Only in America could a group of corporations get away with holding a gun to the government's head and basically saying that any plan to regulate them will result in them raising prices so high their own customers won't be able to afford to buy their product anymore. The fact that their "product" is the difference between life and death isn't even mentioned.

And only in America would this threat be presented to the public as a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

The pharmaceutical companies are just as bad, especially when it comes to the pricing of life-saving drugs and especially considering that the U.S. government (through the NIH) funds so much of the research and development for them. We pay for them twice, and at what a price!

WH Hits AHIP, Making the Case for the Public Option

From Daily Kos here.

The White House continues its offensive against AHIP and the private insurers, with spokesperson Linda Douglass hitting them hard for anti-consumer practices.

We know the history here, though. The insurance industry has routinely, consistently, and aggressively long opposed health reform, and one has to wonder, when you look at this report, whether the insurance industry is seeking reasons, excuses not to employ the kinds of protections for consumers, such as protecting you against pre-existing conditions, or protecting you against the insurance company yanking your insurance away when you get sick.

So part of what this report appears to be is an exercise in trying to find a reason not to provide the insurance protections, the consumer protections that are at the heart of health insurance reform.

The insurers have shown their intent to dump consumer protections, we need the public option now more than ever.

See here and here too, and, for a good analysis, here.

Tuesday night

Chores done -- get mail, clean cat boxes, fix lunch for the next couple of days ("chopped steak"). No nap after work. Got home late from Home Depot and Burger King. A little tired. Had a mint green tea earlier.

Tuesday evening

We're still having the heat wave here. Ugh. After work, I got off the bus at Home Depot to make a payment and buy a new dimmer switch for the kitchen (the third one). Then I walked a block up to the Burger King to pick up a fish sandwich. It was sweltering, even as the sun was going down. We've been getting record high temperatures. A high-pressure system has been preventing cold fronts from coming down here. So no rain, no cool. Things should get better by the weekend, but tomorrow's supposed to be another hot one. Plus, the heat index has these temperatures in the 90s feeling like the 100s F.

Windfall Profits

From Digby here.

Following up on the post below, I see that Ezra points out another possible response from the Democrats to this AHIP salvo:

The short-term impact of this seems to be that Nancy Pelosi's windfall profits tax on the insurance industry just got a whole lot more likely, as Democrats just got a whole lot angrier at a group they never liked in the first place.

I certainly hope so. It was a good idea anyway, and now it seems like a necessity. . . .

Monday night

Further to last night's posting on the "60 Minutes" segment on football injuries, see the latest New Yorker here ("Offensive Play; How different are dogfighting and football?"). I haven't finished reading it myself.

Sunday night

Was at gym and stores today. Doesn't seem as hot out tonight as last night, but still muggy. (It's in the lower 80s F.) Lucky is enjoying the terrace. He was also napping in a dresser today (click on image to enlarge.)

Tonight for dinner I had a Milano's Italian Grille Beef Cacciatore. I bought two of these -- they were on sale $4 off for two (normally $6-something). Not bad but I wouldn't buy it again if it weren't on sale. It weighs 17 oz. and while it had a good deal of beef, it's mostly a chunky marinara sauce with mushrooms ("rustica"). So I ate the sauce as a vegetable and had artichoke hearts and hearts of palm vinaigrette on the side. (Here's a review of their spaghetti and meatballs.)

Watched "60 Minutes" tonight. There was a segment on how getting concussions in collision sports (football, boxing) leads to early onset of dementia, depression, etc. due to permanent brain damage. The emphasis was on football. So far, 100 former NFL players have become affected. See "'88 Plan' aids retired NFL players" here. (John Mackey, formerly of the Baltimore Colts, was shown in the segment. He came down with dementia in his early 50s.) See more about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) here. While I've enjoyed football games in the past, I've always thought the sport was too dangerous, even with all the padding. Now they're making helmets with shock absorbers inside vs. foam.

Now watching "Witness to Jonestown" on MSNBC. What a sick individual. I think I've seen part of this before, or something similar.

Gave Bootsy an ear treatment tonight. Hadn't done one in three weeks (forgot to do it last Sunday). His ears are fine now and he doesn't scratch at them, but I'll keep treating them every couple of weeks or as needed. They look very healthy (but I'm no vet). The vet had said to do it twice a week, which I did for a while. Then they cleared up dramatically. (It was mildew.) The ear canals are still open and I don't see any new problems. I should probably call the vet and give her a report.

White House: Fox News Is 'A Wing Of The Republican Party'

From TPM here.

White House Communications Director Anita Dunn slammed Fox News in an interview on CNN with Howie Kurtz this morning, saying that Fox News "is more a wing of the Republican Party" than an objective news organization.

"The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party," Dunn said.

This follows up on Dunn's comment to Time earlier this week that Fox News is "opinion journalism masquerading as news." And as we've reported before, the White House and Fox News don't have the warmest relationship to start with.

But this morning, Dunn seems to have taken the White House's criticism of Fox News to the next level. For instance, she said that when President Obama talks to Fox News, he approaches it differently than other cable networks.

When he goes on Fox, he understands he's not going on it really as a news network at this point, he's going on to debate the opposition.

"Let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is," Dunn said.

And this: "They're widely viewed as part of the Republican Party. Take their talking points, put 'em on the air."

As an example, Dunn pointed to last fall, when the United States was grappling with a financial crisis, two wars and a historic election.

"If you were a Fox News viewer in the fall election, what you would have seen would have been that the biggest stories and the biggest threats facing America were a guy named Bill Ayers and something called ACORN."

We'll be watching for Fox News' response.

Saturday night

[Off]

Saturday afternoon

I'm sitting here with the blinds half-closed to deflect some of the heat. Baby, it's hot outside, esp. for this time of the year. My A/C is going non-stop.

Watered the parched plants. We haven't had any rain in a couple of weeks.

Saturday hate mail-apalooza

Markos writes a weekly column on the hate mail he receives at Daily Kos. Here's today's.

A surprisingly quiet week, actually. Not even a single anti-Nobel rant. But there's still some spittle, and you know where to find it.

• ::
• 
  

BLAME

Chicago torpedoed by anti-U.S. sentiment? Some Chicago officials say anti-American resentment likely played a role in Chicago's Olympic bid dying in the first round Friday.President Obama could not undo in one year the resentment against America...... that President Bush and others built up for years, they said.

BLAME BUSH..LMAO.... Buutt Obama was suppose to make the world just each other... this is so freaking stupid... IT WAS YOUR SELL JOB OBAMA THAT SUCKED... DEAL WITH IT... There are winners and losers and YOU WERE THERE TRYING TO PRETEND HOW PASSIONATE YOU WERE ABOUT AMERICA AND THE GAMES AND YOU SUCKED. Bush would have been able to do it. As these kind of comments and accusations continue to pour out we can greatly assume CHICAGO OFFICIALS are more upset and SO DAMN SHOCKED their 'fraud messiah' failed to bag it. Obama is most likely pissed to know end and suffering rejection. Obama does not handle rejection very well since early his life both parents rejected him

And then Obama won the Nobel Peace prize.

WHAT AN ASSHOLE OF A PREZ

With a President who expresses such a positive view of America, is it any wonder that the IOC shot down Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olymics in the first round? The reason to be disipointed in Obama for his IOC push is not that he went to Denmark to support his hometown; it's not that he and Michelle flew separate carbon-sprewing jets; it's not that his jaunt cost taxpayers nearly $1 million. The issue is that our President seems unable to refrain from bashing the United States.

Clearly, Obama should've bombed the fuck out of the IOC, screaming "America, FUCK YEAH!" the whole time. Then the IOC would've feared America enough to hand Chicago the games! But of course, Obama wussed out. What an asshole.

And then Obama won the Nobel Peace prize.

ANOTHER LOSER

$5,252,000 OPENING WEEKEND...

'Capitalism' Will Be Moore's Worst Performer Since 2002...

Because the only people who went to see it
were the liberals which are the the minority
party in the Country. The Country is center right.
People with a mind are not interested in the babblings
of a fat obnoxious liberal slob.

Obama failed!
Moore failed !
LMAO !

Opening weekend, Capitalism actually set a 2009 record:

Also faring extremely well this weekend was Michael Moore, whose new movie "Capitalism" set a 2009 record for per-theater ticket sales in limited release.

And the movie remained a top-10 movie the second week, despite being shown in less than 1,000 theaters. Most wide-release movies are playing in over 3,000 theaters.

And then Obama won the Nobel Peace price. LMAO!

the star

Barack Obama has never had to work hard for anything. Because he could speak and was black, he was moved along by the liberal machine. From Harvard Law School to liberal community agitator to state politician to U.S. Senator to President, everything ...has been laid out for Barack Obama. He was groomed and educated by liberal and racist ideologues.
His mistakes and weaknesses were covered because it was called racism if anyone questioned him or his paper thin resume. Even during the presidential campaign, the mainstream media decided early on they would support Obama no matter what. Who would have ever thought the MSM would throw the Clintons under the bus and trash Bill and Hitlery?
So Obama has grown accustomed to having sunshine blown up his rear end his entire life. Unfortunately for him, up until now he was surrounded by those who shared the same ideological madness as does he. Now Obama must deal with those who openly oppose him. He cannot use charm and wit to convert them to his side. He is a man who is not used to working hard. He is used to going into the fight knowing he will win.Barack Obama is going to lose the war in Afghanistan. It is beyond obvious he doesn't care about terrorism. He doesn't care about America. He cares about adulation. But he cannot baffle his contemporaries with his socialistic BS now. And many US lives are being lost!

Seriously. Black people in this country, especially those raised by single mothers, have it so easy. They have a stranglehold on the White House, have all the plum jobs on Wall Street, control 99 percent of the Senate, and are never the first (token) character killed off in movies.

And it still steams me up how much the "MSM" ignored Rev. Jeremiah Wright during the campaign. I mean, other than talking about it incessantly 24/7 for weeks on end, they totally never talked about it!

Oh, and I still get Keith Olbermann's hate mail:

your show

You are a PATHETIC SOCIALIST Piece of S*** and the fact you still have a show... Proves America is getting more and more Stupid... I watched you for 5 minutes tonight... 5 minutes longer than I can usually stand your socialist ignorant rhetoric and your telling me that my tax $$$ need to be spent helping your father understand death???? Go To HELL!!!! My Tax $$$$ Would be BETTER Spent supporting our Military and their families... You and Your Father and Your Socialist Communist ideas can go to HELL in a Handbag!!!!

You want to pay for Bush's wars? Fantastic! Make the check out for $1 TRILLION and make it out to "US Treasury". You rock dude! Now we can spend our tax dollars actually helping Americans recover from Bush's war on America.

Not hate mail, but ... anyone see any refugees around here lately?

Refugees

Heel people of Daily Kos i'am a photographer from the Netherlands and want to know about the situation of refugees at Kos or were are the most of the refugees sitting on witch island and are they from Afghanistan ?? Thanks in advance Robert Goddyn / UPA Photo

DFA Opposes the Opt-Out For the Public Option

From Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake here.

When Howard Dean made a statement saying that he would vote for the public option opt-out over the Baucus bill, many took that as an endorsement. But it was so loaded down with caveats I had a hard time believing that it represented the ringing endorsement that many assumed it was.

Charles Chamberlain is the the Executive Director of DFA, the grassroots political organization founded by Howard Dean. I asked him where DFA stood on the opt-out. His response:

Every American deserves the choice of a public option, not just those who live in Democratic states. Further, it is impossible to allow states to opt-out and still be a national plan. It would be a morally unacceptable compromise if Democratic Senators let Republican states opt-out because too many Americans would continue to suffer and in some cases even die without health coverage. It’s time for Democrats to stop negotiating with themselves in an attempt to get Republican votes. The majority of Americans want a public option and are depending on the Democratic Majority in congress to pass real reform with a national public option available to everyone on day one. We have the majority votes needed in both houses of Congress to pass a public option now. It’s time to get the job done.

Proponents of the veal pen opt-out argue that it’s necessary because there “aren’t 60 votes in the Senate” for a public option. What they are saying is that there are members of the Senate Democratic caucus who would take the unprecedented step of joining with the opposition party to break a filibuster-proof majority and keep their own bill from coming to the floor.

But they have failed to produce even one Senator who will publicly say that. . . .

GOPers stage 'mock shooting' of Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is my representative. From Daily Kos here.

On Tuesday, a group of Florida Republicans went to the shooting range -- and used pictures of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as target practice. Among the attendees, her 2010 Republican opponent, Robert Lowry.

Yesterday, Wasserman Schultz released a statement reacting to those who pretended to shoot her:

There is nothing light or funny about pretending to shoot someone. At a time in our country when people are bringing guns to Town Hall Meetings and a preacher is calling for the death of our President, I find this type of action serious and disturbing. Tonight I am going to have to talk to my young children about why someone is pretending to shoot their mother. Trivializing violent behavior is the kind of extreme view that has no place in American politics.

Indeed. It's simply unbelievable.

Lest You Wonder

From DDay at Hullabaloo here.

...why a Democratic President received the Nobel Peace Prize essentially for not being a Republican.

South Florida Republicans held a weekly meeting at a gun range, shooting at targets including cut-outs of a Muslim holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The GOP candidate to replace U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired at a full-body silhouette with "DWS" written next to its head.

The conservative movement treats politics like warfare, warfare like a video game, and actually participating in war with a shrug and a retreat to their gated community.

An Armed Citizenry

From Digby at Hullabaloo here.

Some Republican official in Florida says:

"As long as we have the second amendment, that's what keeps the government dealing with us. That's what gives us the right to freedom of speech that's what gives us the right to freedom to assemble, because the government knows the bottom line is that we are an armed citizenry."

Really? Being armed is what makes the government deal with us and "gives us" our inalienable rights? Because if that's the case, I'd better load up on tanks, aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs because from where I sit the government has me seriously outgunned.

Update: BTW, does anyone think it's a great idea to arm that senior citizen in the video who's shooting willy nilly and saying "I don't know what I'm doing!" I'm sure we'll need the manpower when the revulushun comes and all, but maybe they could assign her to the rear and have her knit flags or something. The idea of her running around with a gun is more than a little bit unnerving.

Don't punt the public option debate to the states

From desmoinesdem at MyDD here.

Supporters of this compromise assume that very few states would opt out, because the public health insurance option is so popular. Alternatively, some people argue that even if a lot of red states opt out, blue states will reap economic benefits, while Republican politicians at the state and federal level are put in an awkward position.

There's no question that enacting some kind of nationwide public health insurance plan with an "opt-out" would give far more Americans access to the plan than Carper's "opt-in" proposal.

However, my concern is that quite a lot of states might ditch the public health insurance plan. Corporate interests have at least as much influence over state legislatures as they do over Congress--perhaps more. The public option would particularly benefit residents of states with little to no competition in the private health insurance market. But Representative Bruce Braley (IA-01) seems on target in warning that states with "strong political influence from one or two major health insurance companies" would be most likely to opt out, leaving "consumers in those states without a meaningful choice."

Daily Kos user eugene argues here, "Not only is this a bad idea because of the policy and political costs of throwing 'red states' overboard, it dramatically understates the very real risks that even so-called 'blue states' would choose the opt-out." Click through to read his case.

This Huffington Post piece points out another reason to be wary:

"One problem with the opt-out idea is that Republicans may seize on it in the future and turn it into a general opt-out for states to exempt themselves from the whole bill," said Paul Starr, health care expert at Princeton University. "Remember there will be four years and two elections before the reforms go into effect. This would be the easiest step for Republicans take during that period to ensure that the whole thing would unravel. And it would unravel because states that adopted the reform would become magnets for migration by the sick from states that opted out."

Punting the public option choice to the states might squeeze a few extra votes out of the Senate, but at what cost? Passing a more comprehensive bill with just 51 votes in the Senate, using the budget reconciliation process, seems more promising than obtaining 60 votes for an opt-out.

In related news, Senator Chris Dodd promised yesterday to "fight for a strong public option" when he works with Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to merge the bills passed by the HELP and Finance committees. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and 29 other Senate Democrats sent Reid a letter this week supporting a public option "available continuously in all parts of the country."

TGIF

Just up from a nap. Brewing a lavender Earl Grey tea. Waiting for Rachel Maddow to come on. Keith Olbermann is away from his show tonight (probably tending to his father). I think I prefer the one with bergamot.

It looks like I won't be back drinking tea outside at Starbucks any time soon. According to the latest weather report, next week will be another hot one. Meanwhile I'm falling behind in my reading.

Email from Barack Obama re: Nobel Peace Prize

[Moi] --

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Public Option Still The Most Popular Part of HCR

From Big Tent Democrat here.

Q Poll:

American voters oppose 47 - 40 percent President Barack Obama's health care reform plan [. . .] but they support key parts of the plan, including 61 - 34 percent for giving people the option of a government health insurance plan that competes with private plans[.]

(Emphasis supplied.)

Thursday night

Almost Friday. Yea!

Here's a commentary on Keith Olbermann's hour-long "Special Comment" yesterday on MSNBC ("Olbermann's wasted moment").

God is it hot here! Fields like 100 F. No relief until next week. Looks like I'll be holed up inside the apartment this weekend. I've stopped walking to work from the downtown bus stop in the morning. I was really starting to over-heat. I don't want to get to work all sweaty.

It's even hot and muggy at night. No relief!

I totally agree that any Democrats who would vote with the Republicans for a filibuster over the health care bill ought to lose their chairmanships (or any other type of seniority they enjoy), including Max Baucus.

Didn't take much of a nap (though slept on the bus). Tonight I made more tuna casserole, loaded the dishwasher and cleaned out the cat boxes.

Watching a new "Real Estate Intervention." A really good show for our time. Most of the owners bought at the height of the market a few years ago and are now having trouble selling. Most of them get pretty rattled when the real estate expert tells it like it is (they're going to lose money on a sale unless perhaps they hold on to the property and rent it).

Today I read somewhere that Vermont has the best health care in the U.S.

Now onto "Property Virgins," one of my favorites. They're in Toronto now. I've never visited Toronto except for the airport. Confusing. Plus the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pulled B. aside for an interrogation, since he looks like an Egyptian. We almost missed our flight back to the U.S. (This was during the Bush Administration.) I'd never perceived the U.S. as thugs before, and that's the way they came across, a pretty female officer in particular. It was creepy. Nice crisp uniforms, though. George Bush would've been proud.

More on the 'opt-out' public option for health care reform

From Daily Kos here (includes video of Sen. Schumer). See Steve Soto here too and TPM here and here.

Wednesday night

Back from gym and store. I grabbed something at the store since I needed some cash. Publix now charges $2 to use the teller outside. I'm not paying that.

Got a free flu shot at work today. (Walgreens is charging $25.) When the swine flu shot becomes available, they'll offer that too. My arm's a little sore, but that's all. Didn't really affect my workout at the gym.

Watching Anderson Cooper. Now watching the tail end of Keith Olbermann's commentary. It's about health care. I know his father has been sick. He's talking about him now. Keith has been forking out a lot of his own money on his father's care.

Now, Rachel Maddow.

Enough of that stuff. Now it's "Haulin' House."

Dems Discussing Public Option With Opt-Out Clause: The Silver Bullet?

From The Huffington Post here.

Senate Democrats have begun discussions on a compromise approach to health care reform that would establish a robust, national public option for insurance coverage but give individual states the right to opt out of the program.

The proposal is envisioned as a means of getting the necessary support from progressive members of the Democratic Caucus -- who have insisted that a government-run insurance option remain in the bill -- and conservative Democrats who are worried about what a public plan would mean for insurers in their states.

See here and here too. And don't miss this particularly truculent post. And see this other one.

Fox News's Shep Smith: 'Every Vote Against The Public Option Is A Vote For The Insurance Companies'

From TPM here.

Tuesday night

Watching Rachel Maddow and cooking stew beef for that chili. Napped pretty well, both on bus and here. So Keith Olbermann is making a special comment tomorrow for the entire hour. I'll be sure to miss that! He's such a windbag. I don't much care for his show, and his commentary is unbearably bombastic.

My friend in Canada told me the other day about a terrible auto accident that happened in the city where he lives. A 17-year-old boy was apparently speeding down a residential street in the wee hours of Sunday morning and plowed into a brick apartment building, killing two people asleep in their bed. Stories (in French) here and here. (Click on photos to enlarge.) (Had to get out my Larousse and look up a few words.)

My friend has a friend who was living in the building on the second floor (?). The building has since been declared unsafe and everybody had to evacuate. The driver suffered serious head injuries and is now brain-dead but being kept on life support in a hospital in Quebec City. (The father lives in the U.S. and I assume is on his way there.) It hasn't been determined whether the boy had been drinking alcohol. He could have just fallen asleep at the wheel. There's no indication that he tried to brake the car before slamming into the building (and proceeding to knock down two interior walls in the apartment).

That stew-beef chili turned out really good. Something totally different from what I usually make. It's more sweet than spicy (uses a can of tomato paste, plus seven cups of water). It's the Bear Creek stuff. Mmmmmm. Can't wait to lunch on it tomorrow.

Monday night

Watching "House Hunters." They're back in Savannah.

Now I'm on to "Real Estate Intervention."

Really tired tonight. Didn't take nap. Came home and went out shopping for protein powder at GNC. I have a 20%-off Gold Card that I can use one week a month (the first week). Also did a little grocery shopping next door. More catfood, for one thing. After doing all kinds of scientific research on the cats' food preferences and trying to pinpoint the foods they like best, I think it turns out they don't have any real favorites. They just like a variety of food to waste.

This week is going to be much hotter than last. I'm so tired of this endless hot summer. October used to be a nice month. This sucks. As I recall, September used to be more of a nice month, but now it's just as bad as July and August. And now October is getting that way. I think they had a record hot day on the Keys somewhere. I'll try to locate a chart showing temperatures in South Florida over the past 50 or so years.

Health care reform: Privately, Barack Obama strongly backs public option

"White House discreetly labors to weave coalition on health care." Here (via Digby).

WASHINGTON - -- Despite months of seeming ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched an intensifying behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea in the weeks just ahead.

President Barack Obama has long advocated a so-called public option, while at the same time repeatedly expressing openness to other ways to offer consumers a potentially more affordable alternative to health plans sold by private insurers.

But now, senior administration officials are holding private meetings almost daily at the Capitol with senior Democratic staff to discuss ways to include a version of the public plan in the health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to bring to the Senate floor later this month, according to senior Democratic congressional aides. . . .

Reform won't end cherry-picking by private insurers

From MyDD here.

If the final health care reform bill has no public health insurance option, many chronically ill Americans are likely to be left outside the system as insurers find new ways of denying coverage or dropping policy-holders.

Even if the final bill includes a limited public option, cherry-picking by private insurers could set up the public plan for failure. President Obama has endorsed the idea of making the public option available only to people who are currently uninsured, meaning it will serve a disproportionate number of chronically ill people. That will drive up costs of operating the public plan.

I don't have an answer for this problem, beyond feeling depressed that corporate groups like AHIP have so much sway with Congress. If Americans with prior health issues are still facing discrimination after Obama signs what he claims to be sweeping "health insurance reform," the political backlash against Democrats could be severe.

Sunday evening

Back from gym, watching "60 Minutes." I don't want to see the wildebeest cross the river with the crocodiles in it. I think they should build bridges for the wildebeests. Forget the crocodiles. That was hard to watch. Yuck.

Made the tuna casserole and had that for dinner. Remarks in earlier post.

"Desperate Housewives" was good but I was a little distracted cooking summer squash. It'd been in the fridge for two weeks. Was still good. I slice it and steam it in a large saucepan with onion, butter, salt and a lot of white pepper. When it's pretty much done, I take the lid off and evaporate the liquid out of the pan. I may watch the program again on the computer this week.

I'm all set for work tomorrow. Time to relax. Watching "Income Property." Scott McGillivray is funny. (I think this show is done in Toronto.)

Swiss Health Insurance -- Universal, All Private, No Public Plan, But . . .

From GoozNews here.

The New York Times this morning looks at the Swiss insurance system. Its insurance companies deliver universal access at moderate cost (actually second highest in the world) without competition from a public plan. But before harumphing, "see, I told you so," read this key component of the Swiss system:

Swiss insurance companies offer the mandatory basic plan on a not-for-profit basis, although they are permitted to earn a profit on supplemental plans.

Would U.S. insurance companies be willing to cut the same deal? Somehow I doubt it.

Harumph, sounds like the U.S. needs the "public option." Also from the New York Times article cited above:

Despite pressure on general practitioners, hospital physicians like Edouard Battegay at the University of Zurich say universal coverage also lowers costs by reducing emergency room visits.

Indeed, his E.R. is as quiet and efficient as a Swiss watch, and he still expresses amazement at what he saw when he worked briefly in Seattle.

“I’ve seen things in the U.S. that I’ve never seen here; it was a state of disaster,” he said. “Chronic disease management is better here. If you don’t treat hypertension, you treat strokes. Not treating patients is expensive.”

And even Dr. Schurter — who says her income has been flat for the last five years — praises the virtues of the Swiss system for patients struck by catastrophe.

When her daughter was found to have leukemia seven years ago, “I never worried for a second how and if she’d get treatment and if it would be paid for,” she said. “All was granted as naturally as the air we breathe.”

'Jesus Christ quits Christianity after viewing Republican platform'

I hadn't seen this.

Quote of the Day

From The New York Times here.

While Congressional leaders say they want to curb the explosive growth of health costs, it is unclear whether the final bill will make a serious effort to do so. Every proposal meets resistance from health care providers who fear a loss of income, even as they stand to gain millions of paying customers if nearly everyone has insurance.

See Obama's Weekly Address here.

Sunday afternoon

Frank Rich really has it in for Obama today. And then there's this sketch from Saturday Night Live.

Saturday night - food

Got a lot done today. Doing two loads of laundry now. Spent over $100 at the grocery store. Don't usually spend that much but I doubled up on some sale items (Cascade, for example). Had deviled eggs for lunch and chili for dinner, plus a snack. I had a little trouble peeling a couple of the eggs, so the deviled product [click on pic] came out irregular. Ever since my friend in FTL/STL mentioned making deviled eggs a couple of months ago, I've been making them myself. Of course I've made them before, but lately I've been using just mayonnaise, dry mustard, salt and a little vinegar. I've always loved deviled eggs. And they're a lot less trouble than omelets and less clean-up, and taste a lot better than plain boiled eggs (and with just a little added fat and minimal effort).

It may be common knowledge but I recently read that a lot of the cholesterol in eggs is not absorbed in our bodies. We know that eggs are considered healthier than they used to be considered. For a while, eggs were considered just bad.

They had stew beef on sale again but I was tired of the vegetable beef soup, which I've made two weeks in a row. I got some Bear Creek chili mix and will make it with stew beef. I've never tried their chili mix before.

Meanwhile I like this recipe called "West African Tuna Casserole" which was originally published in an edition of "The Joy of Cooking." A. made it when we lived together in Tallahassee. It's very simple and very healthy. It consists of canned tuna, black-eyed peas, chopped tomato, sauteed chopped onion, tomato paste, salt, and red pepper flakes (which is the kicker). I'm trying to simplify it to eliminate the chopping and be able to prepare it in the microwave oven (vs. the conventional oven), since it seems to be a good candidate for that. The old recipe is too complicated even for so few ingredients, involving various stages of baking in the regular oven. Why heat up the house and waste electricity?

Tonight I bought cans of black-eye peas, a can of petite diced tomatoes, and a bag of frozen chopped onions. (I already had tomato paste even though I bought more--I can always use that.) I'm ready to make this in the microwave tomorrow. I have a large, plastic microwavable container ready. The first step will be cooking the frozen onions. Everything else is cooked already and just needs to be mixed together and warmed up. I'll let you know how it turns out.

(I see someone else has been attempting to streamline this recipe somewhat.)

[Sunday update] I would call the microwaved casserole a success. Next time I'll do it a bit differently, however. Instead of Hanover black-eyed peas, I'll use Bush's, since they're not as mushy and drain better. Also, since I use two cans vs. two cups (i.e., more peas than called for), I'll amp up the tomato paste, salt and crushed red pepper for more flavor. Otherwise it was fine. Not great, but good. And super-easy. (I'd like to add another little can of tuna but I'm afraid it wouldn't fit in the 8-cup container with room to stir it.)

A Life of Its Own - Where will synthetic biology lead us?

Another excellent article I recently read in The New Yorker here. Just a snippet:

“We are going to start doing the same thing that we do with our pets, with bacteria,” the genomic futurist Juan Enriquez has said, describing our transition from a world that relied on machines to one that relies on biology. “A house pet is a domesticated parasite,” he noted. “ It is evolved to have an interaction with human beings. Same thing with corn”—a crop that didn’t exist until we created it. “Same thing is going to start happening with energy,” he went on. “We are going to start domesticating bacteria to process stuff inside enclosed reactors to produce energy in a far more clean and efficient manner. This is just the beginning stage of being able to program life.”

By the way, my domesticated parasite Lucky was back acting normal today. I don't know what was wrong with him yesterday.

TX Gov: Rick Perry Covering Up Execution of Innocent Man in 2004

From MyDD here. I highly recommend reading the New Yorker article at the link. There's no doubt the man was innocent. I found it difficult to understand how the execution was allowed to go forward.

A little less than a month ago the New Yorker published a major piece making a strong case that the state of Texas executed an indisputably innocent man in 2004.

Cameron Todd Willingham was killed by the state for killing his children in a fire. Yet the best scientific analysis conclusively establishes that the fire was accidental and not caused by arson.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, going into a heated primary campaign against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, has now suddenly and summarily replaced three board members of the state agency investigating the controversial 2004 execution, indefinitely postponing a hearing into the case. The Burnt Orange Report has excellent coverage here and here.

The conservative editorial board of the Dallas Morning News outlines the case in very stark terms . . . .

Birthers get a big new supporter

From Salon here.

UPDATED Reid: Health Care Bill Will Have a Public Option...of One Kind or Another

From TPM here.

Late update: A Reid aid says, "Sen. Reid believes that health insurance reform must include a mechanism to keep insurers honest, create competition and keep costs down. He feels that the public option is the best way to do that. While we don't know exactly what that option will look like, Sen. Reid, working with President Obama, will ensure that whatever is included in the final bill does just that."

Thursday night

The weather was very pleasant this morning, but it's going back into the 90s again. Jeez!

Today I ordered a free one-month trial of those electronic cigarettes. (Shipping was $9.95.) We'll see what that's all about.

Lucky's been acting puny tonight. Not himself. He didn't come take a nap. Not playing. Hmmmm.

Then I couldn't take a nap, so I'm tired. Thank God tomorrow's Friday.