Scarecrow

Howard Dean is right; Arianna is right; Jane is right. The public option is essential to reform. It must be retained, protected and strengthened. Without it, health insurance reform will be just a very bad, very foolish, and very expensive experiment.

The Republican Senate leadership has been putting enormous pressure on Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln to vote “no” on the motion to proceed. She led everyone to believe she might, until she said she wouldn't.

Fred Hiatt's column today wonders if there's something wrong with American Democracy. His commenters answer: "Yes, Fred, and you're it."

This coming Friday, November 20, starting at noon Eastern Time, Firedoglake's Book Salon will feature Maggie Mahar talking about her book, Money-Driven Medicine, The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much.

There has been enough information in the last two weeks on the outrageous practices of the major drug manufacturers to warrant extensive investigations by Congress, the FDA, the FTC, and DOJ, not to mention both Congressional ethics committees. Does the WH still stand by it's "drug deal" with PhRMa?

While Obama praises the House for passing its health reform bill, an anonymous senior White Official predictably leaked to reporters why the House bill wasn't as good as the Senate Finance bill.

David Brooks accuses the media of offering politically correct "therapy" to excuse the actions of Major Hasan while ignoring the narrative that the killings justify America's global war against Islam.

Senator Unprincipled Opportunist manages to flip flop on health reform, lie about his concern over the national debt and threated to kill health care reform, while Fox' Chris Wallace never blinked an eye.

As soon as the new unemployment numbers are out, the first question everyone should ask is "where's the Administration's jobs program?"

Responding to an Italian court's conviction in absentia of 23 US officials for kidnapping a cleric in Italy, the Obama Administration further disgraced itself and America's image by calling the results "disappointing." They should have applied the word to themselves.