Tag Archives: Congress

Universal Health Care : Defining Our National Character

Congress and meaningful health care reform. Playing us for a sucker? Some 25 years ago the insurance industry planned, in concert, to co-opt medical care in the United States, while the medical profession through fear, misinformation, or self interest permitted … Continue reading

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Republicans Blocked Pandemic Preparedness from Stimulus Bill

Susan Collins brags that she led the fight to strip the stimulus bill of pandemic preparednes. Here she shares inanities with President Bush in 2008. Photo by Ron Sachs / Getty Images North America.GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness Every discussion … Continue reading

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Democrats Are Letting Net Neutrality Die

Graphic from techrepublican. [Network neutrality is a principle proposed for residential broadband networks and potentially for all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the kinds of equipment that … Continue reading

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Republicans’ New Line : Obama a Dangerous Polarizer

Republicans dig up Newt Gingrich playbook: Turning back the clock. Now that Obama has been in office over seventy days, the second phase of the strategy has been unveiled as Republicans across the board suggest that he is a divider … Continue reading

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Larry Ray : Congressional Kabuki and the Constitution

Graphic by Larry Ray / The Rag Blog. Though none of our elected officials actually got made up in classical white face, their outraged and out sized exaggerations, both facial and verbal would have qualified them for a Kabuki casting … Continue reading

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Republican Buffoon Bunning : Another Shameful Show

Graphic by Larry Ray / The Rag Blog (with apologies to the horse).Sen. Jim Bunning: A Shameful Show While many senators were terse and faulted Geithner for not having a detailed bailout plan in hand, Senator Bunning was coarse, mean … Continue reading

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Financial Meltdown : The 12 Corrupt Deals That Caused it

Graphic from The Energy Source. $5 billion in lobbying for 12 corrupt deals caused the multi-trillion dollar financial meltdown. It got the finance industry lucrative legislative favors that paved the way for Wall Street’s devastating collapse. By Robert Weissman / … Continue reading

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Tom Hayden : Congressional Hearings on Afghanistan and Pakistan a Must

Proposed Focus of Congressional Hearings on Afghanistan and Pakistan As Obama inherits Bush’s wars, this is an important moment for Congress to assert a new role in critical oversight and not repeat the dysfunctional deadlocks between the executive and legislative … Continue reading

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Michael Meeropol : Business Unites to Fight Workers’ Rights

Virtually the entire organized business lobbying apparatus is united in attempting to convince the public that the Employee Free Choice Act is a terrible blow against workers’ rights. By Michael Meeropol / The Rag Blog / March 5, 2009 The … Continue reading

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Dr. Stephen R. Keister : Health Care Reform? Follow the Money

Sen. Ted Kennedy has been leadiing “quiet negotiations” on health care reform. Photo by J. Scott Applewhite / Pool / UPI. Our nation invests twice as much as most nations in medical costs, 31% of which goes to insurance company … Continue reading

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Some Litttle-Known Financial Crisis Trivia

Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania explains how the Federal Reserve told Congress members about a “tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars.” According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occured over … Continue reading

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Rabbi Arthur Waskow to the Senate : We Need Cloture

Sometimes cots have been set up at the Senate during filibusters. Photo by Stephen Crowley / NYT. Is it possible that an anti-filibuster campaign, grounded on the importance of letting a majority of Americans address this crisis that endangers us … Continue reading

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