Report: Big Oil continues to pollute with dangerous chemicals

And yes, pollution like this will certainly add to the increasing health care costs for Americans. Why is it OK for Republicans to add more health care costs to the public? Beyond the health risks, it's also just plain bad for the environment.

Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005 to 2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday.

The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known or suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Methanol was the most widely used chemical. The substance is a hazardous air pollutant and is on the candidate list for potential regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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VIDEO: Cookie is one seriously ticklish penguin

The fun starts about the one minute mark.


(H/t HuffPost Hill) Read the rest of this post...

Conservative David Frum: Two cheers for the welfare state

David Frum:

"In the aftermath of the catastrophe, the free-market assumption and expectation that an unemployed person could always find work somewhere has been massively falsified," Frum writes. "Speaking only personally, I cannot take seriously the idea that the worst thing that has happened in the past three years is that government got bigger. Or that money was borrowed. Or that the number of people on food stamps and unemployment insurance and Medicaid increased. The worst thing was that tens of millions of Americans - and not only Americans - were plunged into unemployment, foreclosure, poverty. If food stamps and unemployment insurance, and Medicaid"--an Axis of Not-Evil!--"mitigated those disasters, then two cheers for food stamps, unemployment insurance, and Medicaid."

(H/t HuffPost Hill) Read the rest of this post...

Got global warming? Call a gay.

Environmentalists have started talking to the gay community about how we were able to get the Obama administration to keep at least some of its major promises to our community (notably "Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal, but also movement on the "Defense of Marriage Act").  How did we do it?  We were smart, fearless, not afraid of who we might offend or what we might lose, and even a little mean.

And we won (at least part way). Read the rest of this post...

Krugman: Right now, bipartisanship would be a "corrupt, undemocratic way to make decisions"

What some call shrill, others call being reasonable to a fault. I'm in the latter group with Paul Krugman's latest column.

I'd love to quote the whole thing, since it contains a great take-down of the Heritage Foundation and the mainstream media's susceptibility to wonk-pretending nonsense. (Sample: "[T]he two parties don’t just live in different moral universes, they also live in different intellectual universes, with Republicans in particular having a stable of supposed experts who reliably endorse whatever they propose.")

Instead I'll just leave you with the close (my emphasis):

Which brings me to those calls for a bipartisan solution. Sorry to be cynical, but right now “bipartisan” is usually code for assembling some conservative Democrats and ultraconservative Republicans — all of them with close ties to the wealthy, and many who are wealthy themselves — and having them proclaim that low taxes on high incomes and drastic cuts in social insurance are the only possible solution.

This would be a corrupt, undemocratic way to make decisions about the shape of our society even if those involved really were wise men with a deep grasp of the issues. It’s much worse when many of those at the table are the sort of people who solicit and believe the kind of policy analyses that the Heritage Foundation supplies.

So let’s not be civil. Instead, let’s have a frank discussion of our differences. In particular, if Democrats believe that Republicans are talking cruel nonsense, they should say so — and take their case to the voters.

This is not at all about Obama and what he might do; nor is it really about Paul Ryan's known "joke of a plan". It's about the Professor, calling it right. Bipartisanship at this point would be both "corrupt" and "undemocratic" for all the reasons stated in the column.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Spitzer to Eric Holder: Prosecute Goldman or quit

But as they say in this clip, Goldman was the largest financial contributor to Obama's 2008 campaign so don't hold your breath. Read the rest of this post...

U.S. Chamber lobbies Teabag representatives to extend the debt ceiling

This is where "the people with the money" tell "the people making the noise" to shut up.

The Chamber of Commerce, in league with the "Financial Services Forum," a group of 20 finance-industry CEOs, plus numerous other heavyweights, is lobbying "dozens of lawmakers" in small groups and dinner parties. They want the debt ceiling raised, and no untidy (John Boehner-inspired market-frightening) fuss about it, please.

Lots of pressure. Here's where the rebellion meets the road. The Washington Post (h/t David Dayen, my emphasis):

Financial industry executives, business leaders and Treasury Department officials are visiting the freshmen in their offices, briefing them in small groups and even cornering them at dinner parties. It’s all part of a behind-the-scenes campaign to school congressional newcomers in the economic stakes of Washington’s next big fiscal fight: over the debt ceiling.

The freshman class that gave Republicans the House majority will be a critical voting bloc in the looming clash over whether to raise the amount of money the government can borrow to keep it from defaulting on its loans. ... Members of the Financial Services Forum — which represents the chief executives of 20 of the nation’s largest financial institutions — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups have fanned out across Capitol Hill to press lawmakers.

In some cases, lawmakers have been visited by community bankers and local business leaders from their districts — to put a friendly face on the lobbying effort and to underscore the point that it’s not just Wall Street, but also Main Street that would take the hit.

It's one thing for the Republicans to hand over gobs of money to the already-rich; it's another to do stuff that makes that money worth less. There's a nice bright line between the two, and those freshman Teabags are getting a solid dose of "do the first and stop with the second." In other words, "leave your integrity at the door, chum," the big-money special interests are here and they own your Republican teabag.

I admire the true teabags, greater and lesser, for forcing their principles, misguided though they be, on their would-be masters. If we had the equivalent chutzpah on our side, the congressional conversation would mirror the conversation the actual nation is having: Shall we take care of the needy or punish them hard? At present, the congressional conversation is more like: How does the Red Team give government money to its billionaires, and prevent anyone on the Blue Team from receiving a dime?

Here's where the rebellion meets the road. The next move is yours, teabaggers. Do you stand by your principles, or acknowledge your masters? The world awaits the answer.

In my case, eagerly.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Trump on birthers: People love this issue

Donald Trump slips, in my view, and admits why he's so intent on pushing the "Obama was really born in Kenya" lie: because (Republican) people love this issue. Read the rest of this post...

GOP demanding cuts as trade off for raising debt ceiling

Like we didn't see that coming.

Ryan said that, as he understands it, GOP leaders have told the White House: “In addition to raising the debt limit, we want financial controls, we want cuts in spending accompanying the raising of the debt ceiling.”

“Nobody wants to play around with the country's credit rating, nobody wants to see default happening, but we also think it is important to get a handle on future borrowing as we deal with raising the debt ceiling,” Ryan said.

And I'd like the public option, and I didn't get it. Why are GOP demands the only thing driving all of these talks? Read the rest of this post...

Obama rebuffs GOP on czars

Yes, it's Obama using a signing statement, and we don't like signing statements.  We do, however, like our President showing some backbone, and he does just that.

President Obama signed into law on Friday the hard-fought legislation to fund government and keep it running through the end of September.

But Obama took the key step of issuing a signing statement, a declaration of constitutional interpretation by a president of legislation he or she might sign into law. It essentially notified lawmakers that he would not abide by the section of the law defunding the establishment of so-called "czars."

Who knew the GOP had slipped anti-czar language into the budget CR deal? Good for Obama, standing up to this garbage, but the GOP will see this as Obama going back on his promise to support the deal. Just wait until the debt ceiling, when they demand a heck of a lot more as penance. Read the rest of this post...

Obama overheard criticizing GOP, defending HCR

If it's for real, and wasn't a set up, good.

President Obama bluntly criticized congressional Republicans and candidly assessed his own policies and the performance of federal workers in a meeting with campaign donors late Thursday in Chicago.

Apparently unaware that a microphone was still on, Obama said he essentially dared Republicans to try to repeal his health-care law during the recent budget negotations. “I said, ‘You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We’ll have that debate. You’re not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we’re stupid?’ ”

I'd like to believe that Obama has this side to him. I suspect he thinks this is the real him, and he only shows it to Republicans in private, preferring to be more conciliatory in public. But I doubt the GOP believes it when Obama threatens like this. In order for a threat to be credible, the other guy has to believe that you're willing to follow through. While I have little doubt that Obama would veto an outright repeal of health care reform, would Obama let the Republicans damage portions of the legislation to, say, get a vote on the debt limit? Sadly, I think the so. And I suspect the GOP thinks so too. Read the rest of this post...

Anti-govt, anti-tax, anti-stimulus Texas governor now begging for federal funds

So the same person who complained about the stimulus yet kept his state afloat because of the stimulus money is now asking for federal tax dollars to help with wildfires. If Perry had his way, there would be even fewer federal tax dollars. Where does he think this money is going to come from? It always seems to be the states that complain the most about taxes who are always grumbling for more tax dollars. It's not that their requests are unreasonable, but when they make it their mission to attack the system and then come forward with hands out, then there's a big issue. What a complete fraud.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry sought additional federal help in battling wildfires across his drought-parched state as a woodland blaze gutted at least six homes on Sunday and threatened hundreds more in Austin, the state capital.

An estimated 1.5 million acres of tinder-like brush and grasslands have gone up in flames in Texas since January 1, about half of that during the past week alone under some of the driest conditions in Texas history.

Some 220 homes in all have been lost, according to a letter released on Sunday from Perry to President Barack Obama requesting a federal disaster declaration.

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More protests and more deaths in Syria as pan-Arab revolution spreads

The varying reports are still unconfirmed by media sources though it would not come as a surprise to hear of gunmen loyal to Assad shooting protesters from rooftops. It's doubtful that he will leave as easily as Mubarak. Al Jazeera:

At least five people are reported dead amid fresh protests near the restive Syrian city of Homs, but the identities of those killed remains unclear.

Government sources told Al Jazeera that two policemen were killed in the town of Talbiseh on Sunday while other reports claimed protesters had been killed.

Our correspondent Cal Perry, in Damascus, reported that more than a dozen people had been wounded in what officials said was a "co-ordinated attack from both rooftop sniper fire and fire from the ground".

He said it was unclear who was behind the firing. Officials blamed "foreign elements" while protesters said it was security forces dressed in civilian clothes.

"The situation is incredibly chaotic", he said.

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Death Panels come to UK following right-wing budget cuts similar to what GOP plans for US

There's little doubt this is about scrapping the NHS and replacing it with a US model where insurance companies control the process. The Guardian:

The FSSA, which represents about 15,000 surgeons, says it is "concerned that lists of surgical procedures and interventions, deemed of low clinical effectiveness or of 'lower value', are being used by PCTs to limit access to certain procedures … Review of the lists reveals that there is little or no evidence to support the view that many of the procedures are of limited value to individual patients".

The unprecedented statement goes on: "For example, the lists include types of hip, spinal, ENT [ear, nose and throat], dental, bariatric [obesity] and cancer surgery for which there is overwhelming evidence of benefit. The only justification for these lists can be that they are a means of reducing expenditure at a time when the NHS faces a financial crisis."

The surgeons' move highlights the fact that PCTs across England are increasingly delaying or denying patients access to surgery to repair a hernia, replace an arthritic hip or knee, and remove cataracts, infected tonsils, gallstones, wisdom teeth, adenoids and varicose veins. Some are even restricting the number of patients who can have a hysterectomy or have their baby in a planned caesarean section. Surgeons, heath charities and patients' groups are increasingly frustrated that PCTs are introducing what they regard as arbitrary lists of treatments of supposedly low or no clinical value despite medical evidence that many help relieve patients' symptoms.

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