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

    Dear angry American who has to pay more for better health insurance,

    By Michael Wolraich on Fri, 11/01/2013 - 7:42pm | Politics
    Bummer. I know the premiums are steep. I've been there. I remember when I moved from Philadelphia to New York City, and my rate jumped from $200 to $800--without even changing my plan. I received a letter saying that my premium might rise. The next thing I knew, boom, $800 charged to my credit card.

    At least you get better coverage out of the deal. I still had to pay for my ER visit because it fell under my $3000 deductible. But what could I do? This America. Private companies are supposed to wring people out like dirty washcloths. It's called a free market.

    But this is different, isn't it? It's not the free market that's squeezing you dry. It's the government. Government isn't supposed to squeeze people. It's supposed to get out of the way and let the free market squeeze people.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Michael Maiello's picture

    Insurance Coverage You Can Drive A Truck Through

    By Michael Maiello on Fri, 11/01/2013 - 9:16am | Politics

    Coming back from the gym this morning, I encountered an 18 wheeler with a flatbed trailer, stuck on a narrow West Village street, trying to navigate between the fancy cars parked on both sides.  I asked the driver if eyes outside the truck would help.  He was happy to tell me where to look while he steered the truck back and forth in an effort to straighten out the trailer without smooshing anybody's fine examples of German luxry auto manufacturing. 

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Ramona's picture

    How to Stop Ted Cruz? Stop the Presses!

    By Ramona on Wed, 10/30/2013 - 11:04am | Politics, Media
     

    Ted Cruz, that notorious commie-hunting senator from Texas channeling a certain notorious mid-20th century commie-hunting senator from Wisconsin, is just one in a long line of rock star politicians who think they've latched onto the best way to get their cockamamie ideas across:  Get out there and make shocking accusations

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Media
    Michael Maiello's picture

    The World's Shadow Government

    By Michael Maiello on Wed, 10/30/2013 - 9:36am | Politics

    The NSA's answer to charges that it spies on the phone calls of citizens in the European Union is that it isn't spying, it is analyzing information provided to it by the intelligence agencies of allied governments.  See, the NSA doesn't spy on Spanish people's phone calls.  Spain does.  Then they tell the NSA all about it.  Glad we cleared that up.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Dead Man's Name Tag

    By Doctor Cleveland on Mon, 10/28/2013 - 9:51pm | Personal

    I've been away at an academic conference for nearly a week, leaving blog posts unfinished, e-mail unanswered, and campus office untenanted. I had a wonderful time with a bunch of scholars and actors at the American Shakespeare Center's reproduction of Shakespeare's Blackfriars playhouse. (If you'd like to see some excellent theater, a trip to see the ASC's company in Staunton, Virginia, is a great idea.) But I also bumped up against a small problem that's began to follow me wherever I go professionally: the problem of my (real) name.

    Topics: 
    Personal
    Michael Maiello's picture

    Obamacare's Website Benghazi'd His Birth Certificate

    By Michael Maiello on Wed, 10/23/2013 - 12:11pm | Politics

    This morning I was not feeling 100% and so I skipped the very cool calisthenics class I like to take on Wednesdays for the more tender embrace of the elliptical machine.  Unfortunately, this meant that I did my silly walk while facing CNN with the sound off but closed captioning on.  It is very funny to watch report after report, rendered by CNN's botched, real time closed captioning, about how Kathleen Sebelius should resign her cabinet post because the Obamacare website hasn't worked.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Ramona's picture

    Medicare and Obamacare: Same Old Story

    By Ramona on Tue, 10/22/2013 - 7:33am | Politics, Health

    Note:  Thanks to Alan Colmes, I am now a regular contributor on his website, Liberaland.  He posted this piece this morning, so if you're interested in reading the complete piece it continues over there.  Thanks.

    In the next town over from us the recycling station is in a huge semi-trailer.  You have to climb six narrow metal steps to get up into it, but there is an aisle you can walk down and there are huge open boxes in which to throw your stuff. 

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Health
    Michael Maiello's picture

    A New, Democratic Bull Market For Treasuries?

    By Michael Maiello on Fri, 10/18/2013 - 10:41am | Politics

    A big fear among investors and people running actual businesses in the U.S. is that at some point, interest rates must rise from historic lows.  This must happen, in part, because nothing lasts forever.  But behind that truism, there is a lot that could cause rates to rise.

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Ramona's picture

    The Threat of Obama's Worst Enemies

    By Ramona on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 10:01am | Politics
     

    Leaving aside the usual suspects--the terrorist factions round the world, the seething Middle East mountain and desert folk--who are President Obama's worst enemies? The Republicans who saw it as their mission to keep him from winning a second term but failed? Those 30 members of the House and the Tea Party now holding the country hostage over an already approved health care plan nicknamed after this president? The Religious Righteous? The far Left disillusioned? The whites-only-as-long-as-they're-not-women crowd?

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    A Plague on False Centrists

    By Doctor Cleveland on Mon, 10/14/2013 - 5:48pm | Politics

    “A plague on both houses!” I've seen that line from Romeo and Juliet quoted repeatedly for the last two weeks,  as pundits and bloggers devoted to “balance” argue that the Democrats and Republicans share the blame for the current budget shutdown and the looming threat of default. The line itself is a cliche, but quoting Shakespeare makes you sound learned, and that is too often the major aim of both-sides-do-it journalism: making the journalist seem wise and above the inconvenient facts of the fray.

    Topics: 
    Politics

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