The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    amike's picture

    Progressivism Gone Awry? Direct Election of the Senate

    By amike on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 4:07pm |
    Section. 3.The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the...
    we are stardust's picture

    Help fund health care public option with an increase in alcohol taxes.

    By we are stardust on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 12:22pm |
    I am having trouble finding accurate national alcohol sales numbers, but one site claimed that americans spend $77.8 billion on take-home alcohol.  More, obviously, is consumed in restaurants and bars. Tobacco has taken a huge federal tax increase, and some...
    SleepinJeezus's picture

    Health Care Reform or Promotion of the Health Insurance Industry? It's All a Matter of Perspective.

    By SleepinJeezus on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 8:57pm |
    According to a letter in today's paper, Bill McGuire, former CEO of UnitedHealth Group, accumulated total compensation of $1.6 billion during 2005, "just a hair over $4 million a day if he worked all 365 days of the year."Like me,...
    SleepinJeezus's picture

    Obama an Embarrassment on 4th of July

    By SleepinJeezus on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 3:41pm |
    (The following was originally posted as a comment to TPM's Fourth of July Roundup, which discussed holiday pronouncements made by President Obama and John McCain. The responses focused mainly upon McCain, criticizing him for his political opportunism.)I think McCain...
    Richard Day's picture

    Back into the Bereshit: UNINTELLIGENT DESIGN

    By Richard Day on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 2:19pm |
    http://w One of my favorite films is "Inherit the Wind" starring Spencer Tracy (As Clarence Darrow, sort of) and Frederick March (As William Jennings Bryan, sort of) The film was based upon a book by the same title. The book,...
    Richard Day's picture

    ASSET RELOCATION

    By Richard Day on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 8:58pm |
    What is Goldman Sachs, exactly? The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), is a bank holding company that engages in investment banking, securities services and investment management. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered...

    The right to health care

    By Ripper on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 5:55pm |
    We are born to be healthy and lead productive lives. Otherwise, the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator -- "among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" -- amount only to meaningless puffery. Without health, life cannot endure...
    Barth's picture

    The Glorious Fourth

    By Barth on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 2:23pm |
    This may require some careful use of your powers of imagination and, maybe a dash or two of poetic or historical license. You will need to ignore today's geo-political realities, particularly the military power available to powers big and small...
    SleepinJeezus's picture

    In a Perfect World, Bernie Meets Justice

    By SleepinJeezus on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 2:02pm |
    "Hey, Bernie! So nice to meet you at last. Welcome to Leavenworth! I'm Sergeant Justice and I'll be handling your processing and orientation as a newbie inmate here."Please call me Mr. Madoff."Nah, I think not, Bernie. There are alot of...

    Palin Leaves Alaska DEFENSELESS!

    By Ripper on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 2:32am |
    The mention of Kim Jong Il in this post from Chez made me realize that Sarah Palin's resignation will leave Alaska DEFENSELESS against missiles from N. Korea and trained polar bear attacks from Russia!AND, as we speak, Congress is preparing...

    Songs for Sarah

    By Ripper on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 2:16am |
    Richard Day's picture

    OATHS

    By Richard Day on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 6:01pm |
    July 7, 2007 So I am sitting home watching the hearings on CSPAN. It is two years ago, almost to the day. I had no internet or even a computer that worked. So, it was my only entertainment at...
    Richard Day's picture

    AND ME, I'M SENATOR AL FRANKEN

    By Richard Day on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 3:37pm |
      Al FrankenJosh posted a squib the other day. He wanted readers to give their opinion of Al Franken and the election mess in Minnesota. I made a comment but it was too late, really. So I thought I...
    oleeb's picture

    Midlife Crises Are Bad Enough In Private: In Public The Shameful Ugliness Is All Too Apparent

    By oleeb on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 2:40pm |
    By now I think anyone paying attention understands that Gov. Sanford's life is in full meltdown.  Clearly, here is a man in the midst of a midlife crisis that he is handling very, very badly to say the least.  I've...
    amike's picture

    Progressivism Gone Awry? Initiative, Referendum, and Recall

    By amike on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 12:29am |
    "Direct Democracy" has a noble sound to it.  Its instruments, Initiative, Referendum, and Recall, were introduced by Progressives about a century ago, and they were introduced for noble reasons.  The idea was to take politics out of smoke-filled rooms and...

    Re: "Fever Swamp" and (barely) in defense of Drudge (gasp!); BONUS: what about the gun-running cop???

    By azpaull on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 8:35pm |
    Re: Josh's item titled "Fever Swamp" (7/1 3:49pm ET):   In (minimal) defense of Drudge:  He is just quoting the Houston Chronicle's headline, verbatim.  The difference: you can read the context easily underneath the Chron's headline, but you have to...
    Richard Day's picture

    The President No Longer Takes Our Calls

    By Richard Day on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 4:12pm |
    So many fruits ripe for the pickin' and all I got is two hands and a keyboard. Where to start? While everybody else appears to be on My President's case I would like to talk about the repubs. It...
    oleeb's picture

    Democrats Now Have 60 Votes In The Senate What Excuses Will They Pawn Off On The Public Now When They Fail To Do What They Were Elected To Do?

    By oleeb on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 4:54am |
    With Al Franken now ready to take his place in the Senate, the Democrats will have 60 votes, but who expects that to make any real difference?  I don't think anyone thinks it will make much difference at all.  So...

    How to push the Senate to a public option

    By Ripper on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 2:33am |
    The battle for health care reform will be fought in the Senate. With too few resources at hand to push the entire Senate into supporting health care, we have to carefully target our efforts.Dr. Howard Dean's site lists 37 senators...
    stillidealistic's picture

    Different Party, Same Crap...Whodathunk?

    By stillidealistic on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 11:35pm |
    I can't begin to tell you how heartsick, frustrated and downright pissed I am over the wussy behavior of the Democratic Party. I switched parties to show the Republicans how pissed off I was that they screwed the country for...

    War

    By Ripper on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 9:51pm |
    No tanks blockade our nation's Capitol.No militia beats our citizens.No leaders of health care reform have been rounded up for summary execution or long sentences in gulags.In recent years, we have borne witness to the unquenchable yearning for freedom and...
    ClosetLuddite's picture

    Newt is (gasp) right about _anything_?

    By ClosetLuddite on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 4:35pm |
    As it turns out (and I may have to shower after typing this), he is! Our dear friend Newtie the Gingrich has very enlightened views (at least in the abstract) about prison reform.  I did a quick Google to see...
    amike's picture

    Progressivism Gone Awry? The Price of Ballot Secrecy.

    By amike on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 3:55pm |
        There was no right to a secret ballot; having been sworn in, the voter simply called out his choices to the election clerks who sit on the porch behind the judge tallying the vote. Each clerk has a pollbook...
    Richard Day's picture

    THOSE WERE THE DAYS

    By Richard Day on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 3:54pm |
      F.decorate(_ge('photo_notes'), F._photo_notes).notes_go_go_go(3579161528, 'http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3642/3579161528_2a32a30cfb_t.jpg', '3.1444'); "Mr. Madoff is 71 years old, your Honor. Based upon his health, which is in the PSR, his family history, his life expectancy, that is why we ask for a sentence of 12 years, just...

    A funny thing happened on the way to reform

    By Ripper on Mon, 06/29/2009 - 8:57pm |
    In medicine, the Golden Hour is the short window of time in which to save a patient or, at least, to apply treatment for the best possible outcome. The Golden Hour of health care reform is upon us. What you...

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