time out called

In the trade clash between China and America, the Asian giant has gravely wounded the United States. China knows it. U.S. voters of all political stripes know it. But too many American politicians are in denial. Their deliberate blindness, and resulting inaction, has enabled Chinese market intervention to continue killing American manufacturing.

Discussion of Digby’s post on extending benefits and Congressional inanities

Read how Care International’s “business approach” is assisting farmers in Zambia.

Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.

This is the first in a two-part series about my visit to the home of Kristof and Stacia Nordin in Lilongwe, Malawi. Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.

Here are nine reasons the Senate health care reform bill should be killed:

1) The bill gives almost no real help ’til 2014. In the short term, the bill does nothing about the fatalities, bankruptcies, and foreclosures that come from lack of insurance. Therefore, the very title of the bill — “The Affordable Health Choices Act” –is a lie, despite band-aids for children and young adults, because the bill doesn’t get people care in the short run at an affordable price that will protect them from financial ruin.

In the exchanges, out of pocket costs to pay for premiums are only indexed to your own income for the first year (2013). After that, they are indexed to the costs of premiums — which will assuredly grow much faster than your income — making premiums unaffordable over time.

This week, there were a lot of reactions to Tim Geithner’s new bailout plan, including commentary from David Corn at Mother Jones, Ezra Klein at The American Prospect and Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo. The Weekly Audit also highlights a couple of pieces on much-needed structural reforms to the U.S. corporate landscape by David Moberg of In These Times and David Korten at Yes!