Independent voters tilt toward Democrats

More signs of trouble for the Rs. Then again, this isn't a surprise. Independents have been with us for years. George Bush has made the Republicans a semi-permanent, for the moment, minority party. Yes, 70% of Republicans think Bush is doing a great job - but what percentage of the country ARE those Republicans? And, are fewer people calling themselves Republicans as a result of Bush's reign? I would suspect they are. So let Cheney and the others advise Bush to stay the course because his base still loves him. That still means that Bush is governing 28% of the country, and while we can't stop him now, once the elections come, 28% is a mandate for disaster. Read the rest of this post...

Mr Bubble continues his assault on Democrats

If the sub-prime lending problems and looming banking crisis were not problems created during his tenure it could perhaps be easier to listen to this guy but he's been about as accurate on the economy as Cheney was on the war with Iraq. Wow, has anyone ever been so far off so many times? Worse still, he can't even accept his own responsibility for the past problems, not to mention what's up ahead. Uh huh, he was the great savior to us all with two ugly economic bubbles under his belt and a fresh banking crisis on the way. Mr Bubble's failure to provide any reasonable regulation or oversight and being bamboozled by the Wall Street easy money pitch makes him look more pathetic with each interview he gives.

Mr. Bubble is still preaching the values of free trade which sure, in theory sound great and certainly there are benefits to freer trade but just as we are nowhere near a free market economy or a true democracy for that matter, free trade needs to be properly monitored and regulated. Finding a balance is not such a bad idea and if that's what Hillary and other Democrats are seeking, that sounds perfectly reasonable. If only Mr Bubble spent so much time talking about the decreasing middle class and the sickening compensation plans for the elite few at the top, his arguments might also resonate a bit better with regular Americans.

If he actually knew anyone trying to get by he just might learn that these days, it's all about finding a balance and not his tired old "let the market decide" and "free trade" rubbish. I sure hope he stays available for interviews when Northern Rock comes to America so he can tell us again how it was the fault of someone else. Read the rest of this post...

German politician says marriage should last just 7 years

Fascinating proposition. You get into the contract knowing it's JUST 7 years long. The clock is ticking. Does it make you more comfortable for the long haul, happier knowing that it has a finite life - is it a bit like knowing WHEN you're going to die, so that you can enjoy life more now? Would people stay married LONGER since the expectations and pressure would be less? Thoughts? Read the rest of this post...

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Do you know what your health insurance covers?

Joe and I have been talking more and more about our health insurance recently. And we both noted that we're both not stupid (both have law degrees), and neither of us has a clue what our health insurance does or doesn't coverage. Does our coverage, your coverage, have a lifetime cap (i.e., if you get deathly ill and end up having $2m in medical bills, does your coverage finally cut off)? If you move to another state do you lose your coverage (I now know that I do)? What about emergency room visits - does your insurance cover them, if so, how much of them, and do you need to call your doctor or your insurance company first to get permission to go (I literally dialed my doctor and then my insurance company from the cab on the way to the hospital when I sliced the tip of my finger off - I found out I didn't need permission, after being asked to punch tons of buttons on the phone with my bloody finger).

Oh, and the reason I got on the phone to my doc and the insurance company when racing to the emergency room is because my friend Bob had a horrible condition years back - he would get excruciating pain in his balls like someone had kicked him hard and wasn't stopping, pain that made him fall to the ground in agony and start screaming (not kidding). Bob's insurance company refused to pay for an emergency room visit because on a Saturday, a holiday weekend, while visiting a friend out of state, Bob had an attack, was on the ground writhing in pain in a full fetal position, his friend had stuffed a towel in Bob's mouth because the screams were so loud (again, not kidding), and Bob's insurance company said that Bob, who was on the ground in a fetal position dying, should have called his doctor back in DC (and he'd find that number, where?) in order to get permission to go the emergency room. Yeah.

I really think health care is going to be a huge issue for our generation - and not just for poor people, but for the rest of us too. The Republicans are making a huge mistake by underestimating the import of this issue to regular Americans. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

It's Hillary Clinton's coming out day on the talk shows. Yep, asserting her frontrunner status, she is on all five of them. One thing you have to give Clinton and her people, they fight back -- hard. They get the right wing noise machine, having been victims of it for over 15 years. (And, yes, we know you bear the scars from the 93 - 94 health care debate. You say that all the time. Yours are figurative scars. So stop. It's not about the political impact on you. It's about the real world impact on real people. Because your failure left a lot of Americans with literal scars, enormous medical debt and a failing health care system. So, fix it already.)

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and filmmaker Ken Burns.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Clinton.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Clinton and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Clinton; Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt; French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Clinton; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Burns.

Have at it. Read the rest of this post...

Japan chooses likely PM

So how long will Fukuda be able to stay in office? Read the rest of this post...

Protests grow again - 20,000 in Yangon, Myanmar

Each day the protests are more and more impressive. As severe as the junta can be against dissent, it shows how little left to lose the population has become and how far beyond reason the junta has gone to maintain control. The monks have shown incredible nerve and leadership during this process of non-violent protest. Read the rest of this post...