Faithful Progressive

President Said to Seek Afghan Turnover Plan and Clarity

2009-11-11T22:44:00.002-05:00

The era of endless, open-ended war, is over.

AP: Official: Obama rejects all Afghan war options

Wisconsin Among 10 Worst States Facing Budget Woes

2009-11-11T18:24:00.006-05:00

After six years with a Democratic Governor, Wisconsin is still facing a looming budget disaster. Gov. Jim Doyle, a risk-averse, tax-averse, do-not-too-much moderate has done little to make this state better off than it was when he took office. I have a (woman) Madison friend who says, "He's not a Dem, he's a big femme." Let's hope his retirement will bring back a truly progressive and Democratic Governor, such as Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Thanks for....not much, Jim.

Wisconsin ranked in top 10 of most fiscally challenged states
By Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 11, 2009 12:33 p.m.

A new analysis of Wisconsin's budget woes puts the state among the 10 most fiscally challenged in the country, joining California in a group struggling to sustain solvency.

The rise in unemployment and steep drop in state revenue suggest a dire future for a state that struggled to fill perennial budget deficits, according to the Pew Center on the States and its report: "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril." According to the report, Wisconsin has lost 140,000 jobs and one-eighth of its manufacturing work force in the current recession.

Gov. Jim Doyle and the state Legislature began the 2009-'11 budget process with a $6 billion shortfall. They filled the hole with $2.1 billion in tax and fee increases, $2.2 billion in federal stimulus dollars and cuts in state agency spending and aid to local governments and schools.

The report predicts the 2011-'13 budget will start with a structural deficit of $2 billion.

Happy Veterans Day

2009-11-11T13:23:00.001-05:00

We still have a long way to go in delivering more than fine words to our honored Vets.

Think Progress: Study: 2,200 Vets Died Last Year Because They Lacked Health Insurance

Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk Loves Words and the World

2009-11-11T13:20:00.001-05:00

Nathan Gardels interviews one of our favorites, Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk:

At the age of 57, I am less experimental and more mature. I want most of all to convey my understanding of life. And writing novels for 35 years has taught me great humility. It has taught me to be respectful of how marvelously detailed the world is. Again, this is very close to a lover's attention to his beloved's every movement, her gestures, angers and silences. To notice everything is to care for it.There is indeed a kind of Sufi or pantheistic quality to this love for the world, as is also suggested by Buddhist mindfulness.s.

Conflicting Reports on Afghan Troop Decision

2009-11-10T06:30:00.002-05:00

McClatchy: 34,000 more US troops
CBS: 40,000

This report, but not to our knowledge the earlier one from McClatchy on Sunday, has been denied by the White House.

If I was a betting person, I would put more stock in the McClatchy story--I'm looking for an increase of about 30,000 troops when the decision is made. This will be made to seem like a compromise after the CBS report.

Rupert Murdoch Endorses Glenn Beck's Hate Speech: Obama Hates White People

2009-11-10T06:10:00.003-05:00

Corporate extremism, Fox News hate speech--apparently comes right from the top of the corporate hierarchy. Amazing...

Murdoch: Glenn Beck Was Right -- Obama's A Racist
Rupert Murdoch defended Glenn Beck's accusation that the president was a racist in his long interview with Sky News Australia.

Prospects for Health Care Bill in the US Senate

2009-11-09T08:50:00.002-05:00

A difficult but not impossible path...

Reuters: Healthcare bill faces tough path in Senate

The battle now shifts to the Senate, where work on Obama's top domestic priority has been stalled for weeks as Democratic leader Harry Reid searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes he needs to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.

"Take this baton and bring this effort to the finish line," Obama urged senators on Sunday in an appearance at the White House, saying passage of healthcare reform would represent "their finest moment in public service."

Democrats have no margin for error -- they control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member Senate. Some moderate Democrats have rebelled at Reid's plan to include a new government-run insurance program, known as the "public option," in the bill.

Yahoo/AP: House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate

House Passes Historic Health Care Reform

2009-11-07T23:38:00.003-05:00

Forget about the sausage making, millions of people will benefit from the healthy sustenance that this bill will provide. Now it's on to the Senate!

TPM: House Passes Health Care Bill 220-215

The House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for comprehensive reforms to the American health care system and universal insurance coverage, marking a major milestone in the battle for health care reform.

It's the first time in the nation's history a chamber of Congress has gotten this far as the House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act by a vote of 220-215.

The vote came after President Obama made a last-minute appeal to his party during the House Democratic Caucus, asking them to "answer the call" of history.

Troubling Portrait of Army Psychiatrist Suspect in Fort Hood Murders

2009-11-06T08:01:00.001-05:00

Our prayers for the many families touched by these brutal murders.

Star Trib: Troubling portrait emerges of Army psychiatrist suspected in rampage at Fort Hood, Texas

Tea Party Thugs Defy Police: Ten Arrested

2009-11-05T18:28:00.002-05:00

These right wing nuts must be upset and disappointed by their election loss in NY #23--now they are resorting to illegal tactics.

TPMDC: Strange Scene: 10 Arrested As Tea Partiers Heckle Police

U.S. Capitol Police arrested 10 people this afternoon after the Capitol Hill Tea Party crowd stormed Congressional office buildings.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, public information office for the Capitol Police, told TPMDC the arrests happened in the Cannon House building as tea partiers attempted to protest Speaker Nancy Pelosi about health care.

They were charged with unlawful entry (entering a Congressional office and refusing to leave when told to do so) and/or disorderly conduct (yelling in the hallway outside an office) at Room 235 in the Cannon House Office Building.

Room 235 is Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office for district business, not where she conducts her duties as Speaker. That's handled at an office in the Capitol building.

Democrats Gain Seats in the House as GOP Wins Gov. Races

2009-11-04T13:43:00.003-05:00

Hard to get too excited by the loss in Virginia--where the Democrat said he would try to opt out of the public option. And Gov. Corzine has been in trouble for a long while--why he ever left the Senate is beyond me. Was good there but not a great Gov. But it was also nice to see the Beck/Palin crowd get their delusions of right wing extremist grandeur go down to defeat in Upstate NY. And look out for that great new Congressman from California, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.

Wash Post: White House tries to shrug off Democratic election losses

Karzai Still Does Not Get It

2009-11-03T06:50:00.003-05:00

This hardens my own views on the Afghan war: this government is just not worth the cost of propping it up.

NYT: Karzai Is Vague on Confronting Corruption in Afghanistan

...What he is seeking, Mr. Obama told reporters afterward, is “a sense on the part of President Karzai that, after some difficult years in which there has been some drift, that in fact he’s going to move boldly and forcefully forward and take advantage of the international community’s interest in his country to initiate reforms internally. That has to be one of our highest priorities.”

The administration wants Mr. Karzai and the Afghan government to put into place an anticorruption commission to establish strict accountability for government officials at the national and provincial levels, senior administration officials said Monday.

In addition, some American officials and their European counterparts would like at least a few arrests of what one administration official called “the more blatantly corrupt” people in the Afghan government.

Administration officials declined to provide the names of people they wanted to see arrested and acknowledged that such arrests were a long shot. The international community’s wish list of potential defendants includes Mr. Karzai’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade; Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, who is accused of involvement in the killings of thousands of Taliban prisoners of war early in the Afghan conflict; and one of Mr. Karzai’s running mates, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, a former defense minister who is also suspected of drug trafficking.

“A couple of high-profile heads on a platter would be nice,” said one European diplomat involved in Afghanistan. The diplomat, like other officials, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.

Obama administration officials have been pressing Mr. Karzai to take action against General Dostum and Mr. Fahim for several months. This summer, Mr. Obama even called for an investigation of General Dostum. Mr. Karzai instead allowed the general to return from exile and reinstated him to his government position, while the general endorsed Mr. Karzai and campaigned for him.

The corruption problem has surfaced repeatedly as Mr. Obama has been holding meetings to review his Afghanistan strategy, administration officials said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch Goes Off the Deep End on Health Reform: Passage Would Aid Dems, Threaten Two Party System

2009-11-03T06:21:00.001-05:00

Twisted logic...

The Hill: Senator Hatch: Healthcare reform bills threaten survival of two-party system

By Michael O'Brien - 11/02/09 11:15 AM ET
The healthcare reform proposals before Congress threaten the existence of the two-party system, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) alleged Monday morning.

Hatch asserted that the health bills, which he believes represent a "step-by-step approach to socialized medicine," will lead to Americans' dependence on Democrats for their health and other issues.

"And if they get there, of course, you're going to have a very rough time having a two-party system in this country, because almost everybody's going to say, 'All we ever were, all we ever are, all we ever hope to be depends on the Democratic Party,' " Hatch said during an interview with the conservative CNSNews.com.

"That's their goal," Hatch added. "That's what keeps Democrats in power.

Karzai Too Corrupt for Election Legitimacy, Abdullah Abdullah Says, Dropping Out

2009-11-01T09:02:00.002-05:00

Now what? What should the US do?

NY Times: Transparent Election Is Not Possible, Says Rival to Karzai

By DEXTER FILKINS and ALISSA J. RUBIN
KABUL, Afghanistan — Abdullah Abdullah, the chief rival to President Hamid Karzai, announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from the Nov. 7 Afghan runoff election, effectively handing a new term to Mr. Karzai but potentially damaging the government’s credibility.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Abdullah said that the Afghan people should not accept the results of an election run by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, which has been accused of favoring Mr. Karzai.

“I will not participate in the Nov. 7 election,” Mr. Abdullah said, because a “transparent election is not possible.” Mr. Abdullah said that Mr. Karzai’s government had not been legitimate since May, when the initial round of balloting was originally to have taken place.

Critical Memory Lapses: Former Vice President Dick Cheney's Interview with the FBI about the Leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's Covert CIA ID

2009-10-31T01:49:00.008-04:00

Call him Mr. Conveniently Forgetful--what a disgrace to his office. Is Dick Cheney a traitor? He can't seem to recall.
Kevin Drum: 22 Things Dick Cheney Can't Recall About the Plame Case

Packers Willie Wood Appears at Hearing on NFL Brain Injuries

2009-10-29T06:43:00.008-04:00

I know, I know football is a violent game and I shouldn't like it as much as I do. I played enough football through high school to manage to break both my nose and a bone in my right wrist. The nose injury was completely preventable-I was playing linebacker but still had a "backs helmet" which did not have a cage and had little protection for the face. If only these head injuries were as simply prevented.

The league needs to get serious about the issue, and simply ban any blow to the head. In last week's Packer's game, Aaron Rodgers, the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month for October, 2009 had his helmet violently removed by a Brown's player on a running play. You would think that this cheap shot to a rising star QB would have resulted in a penalty, but none was called. The NFL still has a long ways to go in protecting its players from serious head injuries and in providing benefits to its great players of the past like Willie Wood..

MJS: Congress warns NFL about head trauma

The hearing comes after a preliminary study done for the NFL suggests that retired professional football players are reporting higher rates of Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other memory issues than the general population. Last week, Boston University researchers announced they found degenerative brain disease in a former college football player who never competed professionally. The disease, caused by trauma to the head, has been discovered in professional football players in the past.

"There appears to be growing evidence that playing football may be linked to long-term brain damage," said Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the committee. "Surely, in an $8 billion a year industry, we can find it within the budget to make sure the players are adequately protected and that any victims of long-term brain disease are fully and fairly compensated."

Wearing a green Packers jacket and cap, Wood sat silently in his wheelchair throughout the hearing as doctors, former players and football executives testified about safety concerns posed by head injuries on the field.

Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, promised lawmakers that league officials are taking the issue seriously.

Let's hope so.

North Carolina Blue? Blue Cross Raises Rates, Then Asks Customers to Stop Competition.

2009-10-29T06:21:00.003-04:00

They don't want no stinking competition, but their insured feel differently.

Raleigh News Observer:BCBS plea to customers on reform hits a nerve:

Indignant Blue Cross customers have rebelled against the insurer's message, complaining that their premium dollars have funded such a campaign.

They've hit the Internet in a flurry of e-mails to friends and neighbors throughout the state. They've called Hagan's office to voice support for a public option. They've marked through the Blue Cross message on their postcards to instead vouch support, then dropped them in the mail -- in at least one case taped to a brick -- to be paid on Blue Cross' dime. Or dimes.

"I hope it backfires," said Mark Barroso, a documentary film maker in Chatham County who is a Blue Cross customer and recipient of the mailings. "I'm doing everything I can to make sure it does."

Barroso said his friends and neighbors have united to subvert the insurer's message. Residents of a neighborhood in Durham have lit up an online chat room with discussion of little else.

"I went sort of bonkers," said Beth Silberman of Durham. "You're hostage to them, and then they pull this. My new premiums are funding lobbying against competition. It's pretty disgusting."

A spokesman in Hagan's office, David Hoffman, said the postcards have not yet begun arriving in the senator's office because of the mail screening process, but he said lots of people have been calling to voice outrage at the insurer's tactics.

Ahmed Karzai, Brother of President and Reputed Opium Trader, Said to be on US Payroll

2009-10-28T08:30:00.003-04:00

For eight years--and we're just hearing about it now?

NY Times By DEXTER FILKINS, MARK MAZZETTI and JAMES RISEN
Published: October 27, 2009:
: Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

The financial ties and close working relationship between the intelligence agency and Mr. Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy, which is currently under review at the White House.

The ties to Mr. Karzai have created deep divisions within the Obama administration. The critics say the ties complicate America’s increasingly tense relationship with President Hamid Karzai, who has struggled to build sustained popularity among Afghans and has long been portrayed by the Taliban as an American puppet. The C.I.A.’s practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.

Sen. Russ Feingold: The Public Option is a Compromise, Not What Liberals Wanted

2009-10-27T09:21:00.002-04:00

Russ Feingold said it best: the public option is a more moderate move than what many liberals want, which would be a single-payer system that would be similar to "Medicare for everybody." He added for liberals, the idea of the public option within the context of continuing the current system is a, quote, "tough one to swallow.' Feingold said a public option is needed, adding it would be a mistake to put something in the legislation allowing for a trigger in two or three years. He contends doing that would allow the insurance industry to manipulate the system to prevent a government-run public option.

Ezra Klein follows the point up.

Unlike Favre, Aaron Rodgers Just Doesn't Throw Many Interceptions: University of California All-Time Record Holder

2009-10-26T18:14:00.010-04:00

Aaron Rodgers is currently second in QB rating this season with a 110.8 passer rating. He has 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Last year, his first as a starter, he had 28 TD's and 13 interceptions. His intelligence and great arm have served him well at every level. According to Wikipedia: Aaron Rodgers... holds the University of California school career record for lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.95%.

This keeps the Packers in games. Even last year, their notorious 6-10 season, they lost many close games because the defense couldn't hang on to leads. This year's defense is much improved, and Rodgers has been an even more accurate passer than last year.

It was fun to watch the Vikings lose yesterday, with Brett Favre giving up both a fumble and an interception for touchdowns. It was not the first time we've seen this to end games. Packers fans endured many games, especially in the playoffs, where Favre gave up picks that ended the Pack's playoff hopes.

Here is a list of some of Favre's key all-time record setting interceptions--including four playoff games. Thought you Vikings fans might enjoy this.

Update: Sal Paolantonio:Overhyped: Favre didn't deliver in second half of career:

...After beating the San Francisco 49ers in the 1997 NFC Championship Game, Favre won just three of his last 10 playoff games. Eli Manning had more postseason wins in a 29-day span this past season than Favre had in his last decade with the Green Bay Packers.

Yes, Favre won a Super Bowl -- 11 years ago! But as his career arc spiraled downward, the blind adulation only got worse.

Favre's passer rating in his last 12 postseason games was a pedestrian 77.8. In his last five wild-card games, he went 2-3 with more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (seven). In his last three divisional playoff games, he went 1-2 with seven TDs and seven interceptions. That's a 3-5 record with 14 touchdown passes and 16 picks.

In two of his last four postseason appearances, Favre threw two of the most unthinkable playoff interceptions in NFL history, both in overtime -- to Brian Dawkins of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003 and to Corey Webster of the New York Giants in January. In fact, Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw overtime interceptions in two playoff games. In his last nine playoff games, Favre threw 18 interceptions.

In the first 81 years of the Green Bay franchise, the most hallowed in all of pro football, the Packers were 13-0 at home in the postseason. But since 2002, the Packers have gone 2-3 in playoff games at Lambeau Field, with Favre losing to three not-quite Hall of Fame quarterbacks: Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper and Manning.

President Obama and Sen. Reid Both Support Public Option in Final Health Bill

2009-10-26T08:11:00.001-04:00

...and that's a good thing.

The White House Blog: The Public Option: Rumor Check
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on October 25, 2009 at 08:56 PM EDT
A rumor is making the rounds that the White House and Senator Reid are pursuing different strategies on the public option. Those rumors are absolutely false.

In his September 9th address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition. That continues to be the President's position.

Senator Reid and his leadership team are now working to get the most effective bill possible approved by the Senate. President Obama completely supports their efforts and has full confidence they will succeed and continue the unprecedented progress that is being made in both the House and Senate.

Dan Pfeiffer is Deputy Communications Director

"Balloon Boy" Rush Limbaugh Pushes Obama HoaxThesis

2009-10-25T10:41:00.002-04:00

Yahoo: Rush Was Punked: “Obama Thesis” Hoax

Asking Hard Questions About Modern War (and War Crimes): Judge Richard Goldstone on Israel/Hamas and Jane Mayer on US Drones

2009-10-25T09:52:00.005-04:00

Both of these are must-reads.

Bill Moyers Journal: The UN Human Rights Council released a report on the recent fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. While concluding that both Israel's military and Hamas likely committed war crimes during the fighting, the report was particularly harsh in its condemnation of Israel's actions, saying they were "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate, and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability." A political firestorm ensued, and some of the criticism was aimed at the head of the investigative mission, Judge Richard Goldstone.

Goldstone joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to discuss the report, his critics and why he believes international humanitarian law is an important part of the peace process.

It originally seemed simple, because in the beginning it seemed like they would just go after Al Qaeda, but the target list has been growing, particularly in Pakistan.

JANE MAYER ON PREDATOR DRONES AND PAKISTAN: How do these targeted killings not violate the U.S. ban on assassinations?

After 9/11, the Bush Administration declared that terrorism was no longer a crime; it was an extension of war. Soldiers are privileged to kill enemy combatants in a war, and America is legally allowed to defend itself. And these targeted killings became an extension of the global war on terror.

How long has there been drone activity in Pakistan? Is it new?

Toward the end of the Bush Administration, the drone program in Pakistan ramped up, but when Obama became President, he accelerated it even faster. It’s surprising, but the Obama Administration has carried out as many unmanned drone strikes in its first ten months as the Bush Administration did in its final three years. It’s the favorite weapon of choice right now against Al Qaeda, and for good reason: It’s been effective in killing a lot of people the U.S. wants to see dead.

Two Opportunities for Action: No More Money for Abstinence-Only Education; Conduct an Inquiry into Hate Speech

2009-10-23T16:43:00.004-04:00

For a couple of years now, we've been back attending a UCC church in Madison. It feels very right. Though I was raised as an ELCA Lutheran, both of our kids were Baptized in the UCC, and we were long-time members of two other Madison area UCC churches. Just today I received two separate requests from the UCC to contact Congress and/or other decision makers. You don't have to be a member of the UCC to have your voice heard.

UCC: No More Money for Abstinence-Only Education

Over the past fifteen years, the only sexuality education programs funded by the federal government have been abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Because of poor evaluations and public health outrage, half of our states have voted to not fund these discredited programs.

On September 29 advocates cheered when the Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of an amendment introduced by Max Baucus (D-MT) providing $75 million per year to fund evidence-based, medically accurate, age-appropriate programs to teens. In response to this vote, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) proposed an amendment reinstating $50 million per year to the failed Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program. The vote passed by a razor-thin margin of 12-11.

This is outrageous! Click here to contact your Senators today and ask them to only support funding for a comprehensive approach to sexuality education, to strip the Hatch abstinence-only-until-marriage amendment, and to urge their Senate colleagues to do the same.

TAKE ACTION: SIGN THE LETTER: Sign a letter to the "Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Commerce asking them to conduct an inquiry into hate speech so that we can better understand it, and to update a government report that collects statistics and information about the connection between hate speech and hate crimes."

Chairman Julius Genachowski
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St. S.W.
Washington, DC 20554

Mr. Lawrence E. Strickling
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
Herbert C. Hoover Building (HCHB)
U.S. Department of Commerce / NTIA
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20230

Re: Petition for Inquiry into Hate Speech in the Media and Request to update report on The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes

Dear Chairman Genachowski, FCC Commissioners and Assistant Secretary Strickling:

On behalf of the So We Might See Coalition, we are supporting the requests of the National Hispanic Media Coalition and urge the Federal Communications Commission to open a notice of inquiry into hate speech in the media, and urge the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) to update its 1993 report, The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes. We are concerned about this issue because of the possible connection between hate speech and violent hate crimes and the lack of information for members of the public concerned about the issue.

During October, So We Might See members are conducting a media violence fast and further educating ourselves on the difficult questions raised by hate speech. As part of this campaign, we are reaching out to you to seek your help.

The possible correlation between hate speech and violent crime gives us great pause. Immigrant, minority, and religious populations are often targets of hate speech before they are subsequently the target of physical hate crimes. For example, in June 2006 four teenagers posed as federal agents and asked two Mexican men for their green cards. The teenagers then beat and robbed the two men, while accusing them of stealing jobs from U.S. citizens. This incident occurred after radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called Mexican immigrants, regardless of legal status, “a renegade, potential crime element that is unwilling to work.” According to the most recent FBI hate crimes statistics, while hate crimes against all other groups have been holding steady or attenuating, hate crimes against Hispanics have been increasing over the last four years. Moreover, electronic media have a strong influence on children and teenagers since they are not yet fully developed cognitively.

Hate Speech in the media is a growing problem that must be examined before it can be solved. So We Might See supports efforts to increase the resources available to the public to understand hate speech. As members of the faith community, we will do our part to ask our members to raise their own voices condemning hate speech when they see it and to ask for all citizens to conduct themselves with civility. The appropriate government role is to collect statistics and monitor trends that will provide a broader context when individuals are concerned about what they see and hear on the nation’s airwaves.

We commend Assistant Secretary Strickling for inviting the NHMC to present their concerns to NTIA’s Online Safety and Technology Working Group. We ask that you convey our support to that working group for an affirmative recommendation that the NTIA update the 1993 report. However, we hope that NTIA’s consideration of this issue will not be limited to consideration of hate speech’s impact on children. We certainly recognize hate speech’s impact on children but its impact is by no means limited to children.

We recognize that the FCC and NTIA are currently engaged in the important and time-consuming work of developing a national broadband plan and distributing the broadband stimulus funding. We hope that this work does not eclipse the important civil rights issues we raise here. A nation that is divided along race and class lines because of hate speech will be less able to achieve equality in any arena, whether in educational achievement, housing, or broadband deployment.

So We Might See supports official efforts to raise and debate these issues in a respectful manner, and believes that updating the 1993 report is a necessary first step in addressing the issue of hate speech in the media. So We Might See requests the FCC establish a broad public forum in which to raise and debate these issues in a respectful manner.

Sincerely,

The So We Might See Coalition and the Undersigned

Even Progessive State Regulation of Health Insurance is Way Too Lax: Support Anti-Trust Efforts

2009-10-22T19:29:00.004-04:00

For-profit health insurance companies often lack the most fundamental corporate culture of responsibility, and all are exempt from even the most basic anti-trust regulation.

The Madison Isthmus brings us this timely report from the great Bill Lueders:Unable to resolve your complaint: State's health insurance overseer can be as tame as a paper tiger

Bloomberg puts this into the context of the national health care debate: Panel Votes to End Insurance Antitrust Exemption

Politics Plus:
End the Health Insurance Antitrust Exemption:
I was delighted to learn that even Harry Reid has taken up this call.

It is unfathomable that the health industry is the only one in this nation besides major league baseball that is exempt from antitrust laws. Bravo to the Senate Judiciary Committee on its smart political timing to use this to ratchet up pressure on the insurance companies.

AP Antitrust move poses few risks to health insurers

Some people are taking it to the streets and sitting in at big health insurance companies.