The Republicans' shock victory in the election for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts meant the Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate. This makes it even harder for the Obama administration to get healthcare reform passed in the US. Political scientist Dr David Runciman looks at why is there often such deep opposition to reforms that appear to be of obvious benefit to voters. Last year, in a series of "town-hall meetings" across the country, Americans got the chance to debate President Obama's proposed healthcare reforms. What happened was an explosion of rage and barely suppressed violence. Polling evidence suggests that the numbers who think the reforms go too far are nearly matched by those who think they do not go far enough. But it is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform - the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state - are often the ones it seems designed to help. In … [Read more...]

This video is a must watch especially the questions and answers. Obama had the facts the Republicans had the GOP false talking points. … [Read more...]

  It appears that conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe is continuing to comment on his case despite the gag order of the court. Raw Story and other sites are reporting that O’Keefe tweeted shortly around midnight last night that “Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap.” It is certainly an important development if true, but O’Keefe may be accused of violating the court order though it could raise constitutional objections from O’Keefe. In the meantime, it appears that the stunt in New Orleans may have been an effort to cut off the telephones as opposed to wiretapping calls. As noted in the segment below from Countdown, the affidavit accompanying the charges was curious in two respects. First, the government was charging a higher category of trespass by alleging intent to commit a felony. However, the prosecutors failed to state what that felony was. The clear suggestion of the affidavit was that the “malicious” interference with the telephone system was to wiretap Sen. Mary … [Read more...]

… [Read more...]

  The Revelations of Sheila Bair: Wall Street's Power Grab By Michael Hudson January 20, 2010 You almost could hear the bankers heave a sigh of relief when Haiti’s earthquake knocked the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission hearings off the front pages and evening news broadcasts last week. At stake is Wall Street’s power grab seeking to centralize policy control firmly in its own hands by neutralizing the government’s regulatory agencies.   Their strategy certainly made money for themselves–and they made it off those for whom the financial crisis “didn’t work out well,” whose bad bets ended up paying Wall Street’s bonuses. So when Paul Krugman poked fun at the four leading “Bankers without a clue” in his New York Times kcolumn,  he was lending credence to their pretense at innocent gullibility. Recipients of such enormous bonuses cannot be deemed all that clueless. They blamed the problem on natural cycles–what Mr. Blankfein called a … [Read more...]