Texas energy deregulation leading to higher prices

The Republican economic model at work. Notice the common theme of big talk about savings before it becomes law and then higher costs when rubber hits the road. This is precisely the kind of economics that McCain and his lobbyist friend Phil Gramm want to expand in Washington. Corporate profits increase and the once-promised customer savings disappear.

Average monthly bills for summertime usage have made a steady climb and are now at about $220 in Houston.

Compare that to the national average for the same usage: about $160.

That means electricity in Houston is 38 percent more expensive. Consumer advocates call the difference startling.

“And that is to us is why deregulation is a failure and we ought to think about ending this experiment,” Slocum said.

A failure for consumers but for the electricity industry?

“The industry looks at Texas as a success story,” Platts Energy News reporter Tom Tiernan said. “If you’re a generating company, Texas is a good market to be in.”

It’s simple economics.

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Jane's YouTube vid reaches #1, 500,000 views in one day

Most viewed video on YouTube today, taken by Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake at yesterday's Rules committee meeting. Watch it.

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Clinton bashes Obama, again

I'm not even going to link to the story, because candidates who have already lost the election don't get the privilege of having us promote their slime. In a nutshell, Hillary's campaign is yet again running around saying that since Obama lost a primary, it's the end of the world and shows he has a serious problem.

Well, Hillary lost even more primaries and caucuses than Obama, so that must mean that she has an even more serious problem than the guy who beat her.

I'm still rather amazed by the hubris of someone who loses and then tells the guy who won, "you suck." Well, my dear Senator Clinton, the voters decided that you suck more. (Not to mention, Hillary's about to lose two primaries on Tuesday, so that must mean she's doubly bad - it's like fighting with a child.)

Not to mention, we can't overlook the irony of a Clinton knocking other people's popularity. We started with half the country hating Hillary, and now she's managed to add half the Democratic party to the "hate Hillary club" as well. So, while Hillary definitely knows a thing or two about unpopularity, maybe she should clean up her own house before attacking others and doing John McCain's dirty work.

Why does this matter? Because it's one more effort by Hillary to hurt Obama in the fall election, and to convince her supporters that Obama isn't worthy. Rather than uniting the party, the Clintons are doing everything they can to fan the flames and tear us all apart. It's amazing how good the Clintons are at making people loathe them. Read the rest of this post...

Clintons freak out over Vanity Fair article about Bill

Ben Smith has the Clintons' entire 2,000 word memo in response to Vanity Fair's new profile of Bill Clinton. Before I get to finish the Vanity Fair piece, and start the Clinton memo, one thing struck me as odd. The Clintons are furious that Vanity Fair's writer is married to former Clinton spokesperson Dee Dee Myers. They seem to think that it's an irreconcilable conflict of interest having a reporter cover the Clintons when that reporter is married to a former Clinton staffer.

So what does that make it when the reporter himself is a former Clinton staffer, like ABC's George Stephanopoulos? Not a peep from the Clintons when they get interviewed by George. And in fact, Hillary did an hour-long campaign infomercial, I'm sorry I mean town meeting, with George just a few weeks ago.

Secondly, I would have thought the conflict of interest here, having Dee Dee as the wife of the reporter, would weigh to the Clintons' advantage - i.e., the reporter is biased in favor of the Clintons, like George. Or is there something really bad about the relationship between Dee Dee and the Clintons that they're not telling us?

As Joe always says, nothing but drama with these people. Read the rest of this post...

Australian troops leave Iraq

The Coalition of the Going strikes again. Tonga will no doubt step up. Read the rest of this post...

The National Anthem

A reader writes:

I find it inspiring to listen to when this who Hillary mess starts to get me down. It's good to be reminded what is really important. In fact I wish our progressive movement would start to more aggressively take back some of our patriotic icons such as the National Anthem. For us it is more than just a mindless wearing of a flag pin or yellow car sticker, but a reaffirmation of the love and respect that we have for this country.

He sent me a link to this video of Stephen Colbert and John Legend singing the National Anthem. It's great. Then I started poking around YouTube, and found another video posted July 3 of last year. Here is the description:

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges. Here is one who sang and when he got nervous the Fenway Faithful helped him out.

It's a great video, you can watch it below.

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Friends of Clinton who advocate a convention fight shouldn't work in the party ever again

It's time to stop playing games. As someone who was a Republican until I came out in 1991, and then never went back, I know a thing or two about party loyalties. You don't get to switch back and forth, lest neither side trust you. You pretty much get to switch one time, and even then you'd better be able to prove you're for real.

Well, now it's time for Hillary's staff and supporters to pick a side. It's their one chance, and there's no coming back.

It would seem that a number of Hillary's top supporters, and a lot of her fans, are more comfortable helping a Republican become president if Hillary can't win the nomination. Some of that is, understandably, just talk - it sucks to lose, people are angry. But at this late date, cheap talk is no longer acceptable. We have to reunite our party in time to successfully take on John McCain. And people like Mandy Grunwald, Harold Ickes, Terry McAuliffe, Howard Wolfson, and so many of Clinton's other staff, surrogates and rich donors have already caused major damage to those efforts. Hillary and her team have successfuly changed the national mood, of Hillary's supporters, at least, from one of disappointment that their candidate lost, to one of outright anger that her nomination was supposedly stolen away because she's a woman. That's ludicrous. Yeah, there's been some sexism by irrelevant third parties, but I just don't believe that Hillary lost because a guy is selling nutcrackers in the airport. Hillary lost this race because Obama ran a better campaign.

(Not to mention, I still get a chuckle out of the fact that Hillary's supporters think a white woman faces more obstacles in America than a black man. Not to go all Hillary-morbid on this, but for all the anti-Hillary hatred in America, Obama is the one dealing with far more speculation about his safety, and it's not because no one cares about Hillary's safety. It's because a lot of Americans, at least bigots in America, have a far greater problem accepting blacks than they do women. It doesn't mean women have it easy. It does mean, however, that Hillary's supporters should stop pretending that it's easier to be black in America than a woman.)

Up until now, you guys claimed you were still fighting because the brave people of Florida and Michigan needed you. Well, they don't you any more. Yesterday, the brave representatives of the brave people of Florida and Michigan reached a deal acceptable to them. You no longer have standing, or the right, to continue a battle on behalf of the people of Florida and Michigan when those very same people have decided that the battle is over and settled to their satisfaction. If you continue fighting now, it's for your own personal ego; it's because you want to see Obama lose in the fall.

Hillary and her supporters have this week to get on the bus, or the bus is leaving, and they're not going to like where it's left them. If Hillary's top supporters and staff think it's better to take this lost battle to the convention, in an effort to hurt our party's nominee and help John McCain become president (where he can launch a few more wars, reinstate the draft and put every American's kids at risk, appoint at least two more justices to the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade (which he says he wants to do)), then please do help put another George Bush in power for another four to eight years.

But if you do that, know that you're no better than Joe Lieberman. You're no better than Dick Morris. You're no better than any Republican who got us to where we are today - bankrupt, at war, hated worldwide, and with an economy in tatters. And just remember, Republicans don't get hired as consultants in the Democratic party. Read the rest of this post...

Some perspective on the media's attempts to overblow yesterday's protests at the DNC meeting

Given the actual size of the protests yesterday, there has been an inordinate amount of attention paid to the protesters by the traditional media.

Buried in the NY Times article today, after vivid descriptions of the antics of some attendees, was this line:

Mr. Wexler received the brunt of the anger from a few dozen supporters of Mrs. Clinton who were seated on the ballroom floor.

That's right. The media is basing its hyperventilating over a small number of people -- who were joined by maybe a couple hundred outside. Remember, protest organizers were promising something huge yesterday -- as many as 10,000 were expected. This was D-Day according to the protesters. They ran full page ads promoting the rally. They had websites. They had support from EMILY's List among others. But, despite all the planning and hype, there was a very small crowd. I know, I was there. I saw for myself. (There are a couple pictures in this post from yesterday's liveblog.)

To give some perspective, yesterday, when I got to the meeting, I shot a quick video of the room. It shows just how small the meeting room was and how limited the seating was for attendees. All the hollering and screaming and heckling came from those few people -- and some of them are clearly not representative of the Clinton supporters I know.

The media loves the drama. And, I understand there are strong feelings at play here. But, most Democrats are over it -- or will be soon enough. It's time to stop stirring the pot and rubbing salt in the wounds. Democrats don't want another Bush term. Read the rest of this post...

Cheney's campaign advice to the GOP: Run on the Bush agenda

Okay. We actually agree with Dick Cheney here. Republicans, from McCain on down, should proudly stand with George Bush, invoke Bush's name and Bush's policies -- and even campaign with Bush as often as possible. That's a great idea, Dick Cheney. From Think Progress:

With his approval rating hovering around 30 percent, Vice President Cheney nevertheless went to Virginia yesterday to rally conservatives around the Bush administration. The Virginian-Pilot reports that he urged state Republican activists “to promote the Bush administration’s policies during campaigns for this fall’s presidential and congressional elections.”

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Scott McClellan continues his media blitz with a visit to Russert. Who ever knew Scotty had it in him?

Besides that, it's all Clinton and Obama supporters. Typically, George Stephanopoulos only has a Clinton supporter -- McAuliffe. Hopefully, Team Clinton has gotten the new "Unity" talking points. Because, as yesterday's DNC results made clear, with few very, very few exceptions, everyone wants unity.

Hopefully, the Obama and Clinton spokespeople will all talk about the disastrous campaign John McCain has run -- and keep the focus on John McCain's huge gaffes over Iraq. Like Bush, John McCain has made Iraq his signature issue. A united front against McCain would make the shows worthwhile today.

The pressure is on Team Clinton to show some grace and start the healing so we can win in November. That's the hope and the expectation. Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; Mandy Grunwald, Clinton campaign adviser.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary; former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Harold Ickes, Clinton campaign adviser.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.; former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich.; Ickes; Democratic strategists Jamal Simmons and Hilary Rosen; Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Howard Wolfson, Clinton campaign adviser; Bonior; Brendan Sullivan, director of the children's sports program Headfirst.

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Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat

I've always appreciated his down to earth, great recipes on the Times websites. Too often recipes can be too complicated, too silly and more about a photo or flashy article instead of being about real food. This is about 20 minutes long, so grab a coffee or tea and hear him out. Read the rest of this post...

Bank shareholders dare to ask for accountability

Gasp! How could they ask such a question during such difficult times? Billions upon billions have been lost due to false logic and billions have been paid out in bonuses for that shady business but HSBC just knows that they are right, others wrong. Silly commoners. Don't people know that in order to keep quality people, Wall Street and City bankers need to keep paying top money? (To make this leap of logic, please just keep thinking it's 2006 and that the subprime bubble did not burst and require bailouts or massive intervention from central banks.) There always has to be one or two complainers out there who don't understand posh finance, right?

"There is no question in my mind that high levels of pay come with high levels of personal responsibility," said Green, who is an ordained Church of England minister. "High pay, unless justified by high performance, is unjustifiable and even when it is justified by high performance I have to say that poses some [questions about] individual personal responsibility."

One shareholder argued that once pay packets reached astronomic heights, as they may at HSBC, "they are no longer private and personal because of the amount of money they involve and the degree of inequality in our society."

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