Centuries ago, news of momentous events traveled throughout the countryside by means of beacon fires, alerting all along the route to big changes coming. September and October 2010, are shaping up to be the time of the beacon fires when it comes to foreclosure fraud.

Conyers

John Conyers appeared at the National Press Club on July 24. The first of the five issues he chose to address was a call for a criminal investigation of the Bush Administration.

The Senate and House HELP committees are fielding amendments to health reform language to allow states to enact individual single payer systems if they so choose. Citizen pressure is required to carry that language forward into final legislation, regardless of what else is in the bill.

July 30 is Medicare’s 44th birthday. Single-payer supporters will celebrate in Washington with a rally, a shout-out to John Conyers and HR 676, and a fan-out to lobby legislators.

In the House, health care reform is being covered by three committees. One, chaired by George Miller, held the first (!) hearing on single payer since John Conyers first introduced HR 676 in 2003. Listen to Conyers lean on Charlie Rangel and Henry Waxman, who chair the other two committees. (And you thought he only did the “sternly worded admonition” thing with Republicans.)

House hearings on health care are fast approaching. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer needs to hear from you now about the need to include a vigorous discussion of single payer on merits.

Lost in the news about swine flu and celebration of Obama’s first 100 days in office was a very significant letter from Congressmen John Conyers and Jerrold Nadler to Attorney General Holder, calling for appointment of a special counsel on torture.

In forward to a massive report on “Reining in the Imperial Presidency,” John Conyers explains why Bush and Cheney were not impeached, and his view of the way forward.

There’s really no question privacy laws were violated, despite the Washington Post’s coy headline: “Disclosure About Obama’s Aunt May Have Violated Privacy Policy.” I’d like to see their headline if it had been Fact-Free Fred Hiatt’s aunt’s asylum petition that had been leaked to the press.