College student charged for offering to sell his vote

It's hard to say what made this University of Minnesota college student so cynical. When you think about how much respect for democracy the country has shown in recent years, you have to scratch your head and wonder. Was it the war-frenzy based on non-existent WMD? The invasion of a another country, killing tens of thousands of people to settle a family grudge and help Big Oil get new contracts? Congress forgiving the telecom industry from spying on citizens? The regular smear campaigns? So-called defenders of marriage who are unable to defend their own non-marital affairs? It's tricky to say why this young student is so distant from our current democracy. I don't know, I'll have to keep thinking about it. Read More......

Mississippi gave away Katrina aid to prisoners

Good old Haley Barbour. He must have been living in a cave with the rest of the Mississippi government who didn't seem to notice that people were in need of the emergency supplies that were collecting dust in state warehouses. Then again, at his country club and when speaking with friends in Washington, people were doing just fine.

Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware -- all intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The state's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items.

Plastic containers ended up with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

Colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more.

But the Mississippi hurricane victims who originally were intended to receive the supplies got nothing, a CNN investigation has found.

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The day they put a giant inflatable condom over Jesse Helms' entire house

It happened on Sept 5, 1991. I'd heard about this years ago, but had never seen pictures. Well, there's a video. Oh. My. God. Rex has the entire story. Amazing. Read More......

The Charlie Crist wedding hilarity is starting

Via Jed, Chris Matthews loves potential GOP V.P. nominee Charlie Crist - well, he doesn't LOVE him, if you know what I mean. Got that?
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Who killed the economy? Fill in your brackets.

Mr Bubble nudges out Bush, but this is a tough game to complete. Just like in basketball, it's all about the matchups. Read More......

FAUX News: A wee bit of an inferiority complex

An interesting take on FOX News in the New York Times. They sound like a cross between the Scientologists and the Bush White House. To me, most telling of all is the fact that it sounds like it actually bugs FOX that the rest of us don't consider them legit. Read More......

Study: Gays don't undermine unit cohesion

AP:

The study was conducted by four retired military officers, including the three-star Air Force lieutenant general who in early 1993 was tasked with implementing President Clinton's policy that the military stop questioning recruits on their sexual orientation.

"Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion," the officers states.

To support its contention, the panel points to the British and Israeli militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without hurting the effectiveness of combat operations.

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While Jesse Helms lies in state

A reader shot this photo up the block from the church where gay-hating racist Jesse Helms lies in state today (I checked Google maps and this really is the place, you can tell because the street sign says Scales Street). The church is in the upper right, red brick. Note the yard sign. Read More......

Why health care and why now

First off, I just want to say how appreciative I am that John and Joe and Chris have so graciously invited me to play in their sandbox over the past few months and how happy I am to have been so well-received (by most). But it's getting tougher and tougher to contribute here, simply because there are only so many hours in the day, and I've got a new gig.

I'm now the Director of Communications for Health Care for America Now - a new campaign launching Tuesday (tomorrow) here in DC and 52 cities around the country (including more than 30 state capitals). The steering committee includes ACORN, AFSCME, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America's Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn, NEA, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, UFCW, and USAction. We've got more than 100 member organizations so far and are adding more everyday (I know because I have to keep updating the press materials!).

Anyway, after spending a lot of my post-CNN downtime trying to figure out what to do next, I realized I kept coming back around to helping fix the health care system. I also figured out this has been a long time coming.

In 2001, I was freelancer in NYC after the dot-com bust, I had just enough money to pay rent and eat. Health insurance wasn't even on the radar. Then I had a medical emergency and fell $3000 into debt in the course of 2 weeks. Consider that a lesson learned the hard way.

Once I had health insurance, it was tough to find a way to keep it as I moved from gig to gig. I found the Freelancers Union in New York, and that helped, but I was definitely relieved when I joined CNN in February 2005 and was back on reliable footing again.

Leaving CNN introduced me to the ridiculous world of COBRA. Tell me how you're supposed to afford $412/month on no income? How is that helpful?

And the crazy thing... most of you have stories like these. Most of you have been through the insanity of unaffordable premiums that keep going up, ridiculous deductibles, tests that aren't covered by the insurance you pay for, and best of all, denial of coverage based on the slightest of pre-existing conditions. Almost everyone's been through that moment of opening the envelope from the insurance company and just waiting to see what they've refused you now.

That's why I'm working for HCAN. That's why I want to spend the rest of the year pushing to guarantee the first order of business for the new President and Congress is quality, affordable health care for all of us.

I'll be around and online, and you are welcome to reach out if you want to find a way to help. But the best I can ask of the progressive community is to keep talking about what needs to change. Keep drawing attention to the abusive health insurance industry that puts profits before people. Keep sharing your stories and keep reminding your representatives in government that real people get hurt by bad policy and dirty politics.

As Richard Kirsch - my boss and our National Campaign Manager - has been talking to journalists over the past two weeks about the coalition and our campaign, he mentions the sign in Clinton's war room with the Carville-created phrase, "It's the economy, stupid." He then reminds them of the long forgotten second half of that thought: "...and don't forget health care."

Consider yourselves officially reminded. Read More......

McCain's healthcare plan to destroy employer involvement

Of course it's going to encourage employers to scrap their contributions towards employee healthcare plans. C'mon, how stupid do you have to be not to see this? Let's think about what employers are already doing with death benefits. And for those who forgot, McCain's economic brain (he sure doesn't have one) Phil Gramm still can't believe the consequences of his own legislation that brought down Wall Street and led to the current credit crisis. These people have no idea what happens in the real world with their half-baked ideas but this so damned obvious. Whenever tax breaks are given to business, it's a mad rush to take advantage of the new law so millions of Americans will be stuck with nothing but their crappy tax credit.

Even worse, who can honestly think that navigating McCain's proposed plan will be easy? This will be a free-for-all for insurance companies with no guiding rules other than the elusive free market that can mean just about anything, but mostly BS in this case. Every insurance company out there will spin numbers beyond comprehension, making comparison shopping - for those who actually have the free time - impossible. As it stands today, most Americans rely on their employers to navigate this tricky system and choose the best solution. The people making these decisions invest a lot of time in the process but with this plan, that's all thrown out to everyone. Americans are stretched enough between work and taking care of their families so this will be yet another complicated process to figure out. Do Republicans always have to throw the middle class to the wolves like this? Sure it's easy when you marry into $100 million, but we're not all as "lucky" as McCain. Read More......

McCain hires another senior gay staffer, one week after he promises religious right to be more anti-gay

The Gay-Talk Express strikes again.

John McCain needs to decide who he wants to be. Two weeks ago, McCain met with gay Republican leaders (people his staff had met with repeatedly before). After the religious right flipped out, McCain then met with virulently anti-gay religious right leaders, and promised those leaders that he would be more vocally anti-gay in public in the future. Then one week after that, McCain outfoxed those same religious right leaders by hiring a gay man to one of the most senior positions in his campaign.

Now, I think it's great that John McCain has such an affinity for openly gay men. In fact, McCain has had openly gay senior staff on the Hill and in his campaigns going back to the early 90s, at least. Again, that's great. Although John McCain is still pretty bad on a lot of gay issues, having so many gay men on staff over the years has to have changed his heart, and the hearts of McCain's other staffers. It's tough for McCain and his staff to be too anti-gay when he's got senior gay people permeating his entire outfit, senior people putting a face to the anti-gay policies that people like Burress are demanding that McCain promote. Not to mention, gays leak like sieves. The more gays McCain hires to senior positions, the more those gays are going to leak the details of anything McCain is working on that even smells of being anti-gay. It's a small town, and an even smaller gay community. People talk. And even gay Republicans aren't usually too willing to let people like Phil Burress do much damage.

So, while I still think that Barack Obama will do 100 times more good than John McCain for all Americans, including gay Americans, I'm heartened that John McCain remains so committed to weaving openly gay men, and even gay activists, into the senior-most reaches of his campaign. Regardless of what McCain promises the likes of Phil Burress, the rainbow cabal is in place, and the cabal rarely lets us down. Read More......

Kerry: McCain's Judgment Is Dangerous

Oh yeah? Where was John Kerry during Vietnam, huh? Oh, that's right, Kerry was getting shot and winning medals for saving his fellow soldiers (and then the Republican party at the highest levels openly mocked Kerry's wounds and heroic record, with nary a word from John McCain's buddies in the corporate media). Never mind. Anyway, Kerry says that McCain has changed, from normal good Senator to wacky presidential candidate. This would explain why Kerry reportedly made overtures to McCain to be his VP in 2004. Back then, McCain was still (arguably) normal John McCain, the guy even a lot of Democrats liked in 2000. Now he's someone completely different: George Bush. I was re-reading what Kerry did in Vietnam, and it's downright disgusting what the Republicans did to him, and what the media let them get away with. Republicans are fearless in their desire and ability to slime. And the media simply enable them. Read More......

Obama will give acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium

This has been rumored for weeks, but it's official. From the DNC:

Breaking the mold of traditional political Conventions, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced that Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at Denver's INVESCO Field at Mile High. INVESCO Field can accommodate more than 75,000 people and will be the site of the 2008 Democratic Convention's final day of programming on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

"The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention," said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). "Senator Obama's candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama's positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way."

"Barack Obama's campaign for change has inspired millions of Americans and brought people into the political process who might never have been involved," said Convention Co-Chair Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. "This change in the Convention program will allow thousands of first -time participants a chance to take part. I can't think of a better Convention finale for our nominee who has made reaching out to voters a hallmark of his campaign."

"When we said we wanted to 'bring down the walls,' open up this Convention like never before and truly speak to the American people, we meant it," said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. "On August 28, we will offer grassroots Democrats, who have turned out in record numbers this year, the opportunity to witness history shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Americans standing up for the change our country desperately needs."

"Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention," said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. "This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign."

Primetime Convention activities Monday, August 25 through Wednesday, August 27 will continue to be held at the Pepsi Center. The final day of the Convention on Thursday, August 28, including the nomination acceptance speech of Senator Barack Obama, will be held at INVESCO Field at Mile High, also located in downtown Denver. Daytime Convention events, including meetings of the Democratic caucuses and councils will continue to be held at the Colorado Convention Center.

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AMA blames GOP for Medicare cuts

I hear senior citizens are pretty understanding when doctors stop accepting them as patients. In all likelihood, they will accept increased or out of pocket costs since Medicare won't work. Surely this won't impact Republicans at the polls because seniors are always casual about issues like this. It's also obvious that doctors hate socialized medicine and want nothing to do with it.

Congress returns to work this week with Medicare high on the agenda and Senate Republicans under pressure after a barrage of radio and television advertisements blamed them for a 10.6 percent cut in payments to doctors who care for millions of older Americans.

The advertisements, by the American Medical Association, urge Senate Republicans to reverse themselves and help pass legislation to fend off the cut.

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Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Slow going on after a long holiday weekend.

How about that Dara Torres? She won the 50-meter freestyle last night at the Olympica trials -- and broke a U.S. record in the process. She's heading to Beijing. She's 41. Yes, 41. Very impressive.

The campaign is in full swing again. The RNC is already running ads bashing Obama:

The group is an independent expenditure arm of the Republican National Committee, which is flush with cash in comparison to its Democratic counterpart; under federal election restrictions, the new group is not allowed to coordinate with the McCain campaign.

Yeah, the crew at the RNC is "flush with cash" -- and they're going to spend it to beat up Obama. That's all they can do.

Let's get it started... Read More......

The crumbling dollar and cost increases

For the millionth time, yes, exports increase for US companies who sell overseas. Obviously that's great news when you are exporting. Personally, I see great benefits on a daily basis but it doesn't mean it's a good thing for the broad majority of Americans. The most noticeable impact is gas though food prices are not far behind.

This also means loss of control with big companies such as Anheuser-Busch falling prey to businesses who have cash as well as a strong currency. A weaker dollar makes buyouts much easier. Buyouts from foreign companies isn't the end of the world though it certainly changes the dynamics of a company. Hiring practices change, as any number of companies overseas would admit when they've been bought by US companies. Read More......

Bush: "Affront" to support human rights in China

That's what he really means when he says he's going to the opening ceremony for the Olympics in China. Since when was it so important for a US President and other world leaders to join the event? Bush did not attend the 2004 ceremony in Greece (his father did) and while leaders do attend, it tends to be more regional or exceptional. A (current) US President has never attended outside of the US, so why is it so critical and so important this year? It's such a big deal, that the supposedly frank-talking Bush is failing to make a statement about China's failure to tolerate a free press, democracy or human rights. Why is it so difficult for the media to ask Bush why it's critical in 2008 when it wasn't in 2004 or any other year?

The only "affront" is Bush's disregard for human rights, whether in China or Guantanamo. Could you honestly imagine Reagan going to this event or worrying about what China thinks? I didn't like Reagan, but never in a million years would he have attended or been so friendly to the Beijing regime. Read More......