Peter Orszag's Tie Causes the Dow to Plummet

Fun with optical illusions.

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The Justice Souter Retirement Scandal

Just extrapolating out from this (from Media Matters):

Following the confirmation of swine flu cases in the United States, radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Fred Thompson purported to detect possible political motivations in the U.S. and United Nations' handling of the situation, with Limbaugh suggesting on his April 27 show that the official response "is designed to expand the role and power of governments and schools" and accusing the media of "fall[ing] right in line here with amplifying the nature of the crisis."

Also on April 27, Beck asserted that there are "only two ways to look at" the government's response to the swine flu. First, he claimed that it "could be that because Barack Obama's administration is so incredibly efficient, could be that they know that this is much worse than we think it is." Second, Beck claimed the administration's response to the crisis "could be to move his Health and Human Services person [Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius] into the office rapidly." He added: "She can be confirmed right out of the gate because of this swine flu. So don't look over here, look at the swine flu, look at the swine flu, look at the swine flu. And she just goes right through the gate."

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Senator Ben Nelson sells out the public and the administration on Health Care

Via The Seminal:

The company Nelson finds himself in is laid out clearly: business, the insurance industry, and Republicans. Of course, this isn’t surprising, considering his campaign donation history. Open Secrets says Nelson received $608,709 from the insurance industry in 2007-2008, making the insurance industry his biggest donor group, more than lawyers and even lobbyists.

And so, Nelson has decided to bow to the wishes of his campaign contributors, instead of standing up for what 73% of the American public want: A choice of a public health insurance option.

In his opposition, Nelson can’t even muster the courage to be honest about his motives. Instead, he parrots the latest right-wing talking point, that a public health insurance option will somehow undermine the employer-based health care system.

Who needs republicans when there are so many democrats selling the public out?

Update: More from Washington Monthly's Steve Benen:

What I find interesting about this, though, is that Nelson worries that the public option would be too popular. The goal, according to Nelson's approach, has less to do with improving the system, and more to do with making sure insurance companies -- the ones whose services Americans may not like -- are protected.

Let's be clear about this. If the reform effort includes a public plan, Nelson is concerned that it will do such a good job of offering quality care at a lower cost that Americans might be inclined to move away from a system that has screwed them over for many years.

This would be a bad thing, says Nelson.

There's a very good reason reconciliation was included in the process. Can a quality bill pass this fall on an up-or-down vote? Yes. Can it get 60 votes? Probably not.

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