Saturday, February 17, 2007

The Practical Communist Say hello to the Practical Communist. 1:57:37 PM

Healthcare Paul Krugman (quoted by Ed Cone): "[W]e spend $98 billion a year in excess administrative costs, with more than half of the total accounted for by marketing and underwriting -- costs that don't exist in single-payer systems...the United States pays $66 billion a year in excess drug costs, and overpays for medical devices like knee and hip implants, too." "2008 pres" 8:27:47 AM

? for president? Oliver Willis: "Mitt Romney has gone past the flip-flopper stage and is literally tying himself into knots trying to explain his contradictory positions." Here's a short article about Republican web efforts from The Right's Field. Political Wire: "Sen. Barack Obama's newly revamped Web site 'looks a lot like MySpace and Facebook, and that is no accident,' the Chicago Tribune reports. 'As a presidential candidate offering himself as a generational change agent, Obama is leveraging online social networking in a nearly unprecedented way in yet another clear measure of how the Internet is transforming politics.'" Pollster.com: "Additional analysis from a recent USA Today/Gallup national survey of 1006 adults (conducted 2/9 through 2/11) finds: 65% of American adults say former Mayor Rudy Giuliani would make a 'good president;' 60% say both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain would make a good president; 53% say Sen. Barack Obama would; Former Vice Pres. Al Gore's favorable rating stands at 52%, while Gore's unfavorable rating (45%) 'has not changed at all' since December of 2002." "2008 pres" 8:08:19 AM

Iraq Talking Points Memo: "House votes to condemn escalation, 246-182, with 17 Republicans defecting to join Dems against 'surge.'" The Gavel: "Statements on passage." Whitehouse.gov: "The House of Representatives has passed a resolution expressing disapproval of President Bush's plan to send reinforcements to Iraq. This plan enjoys the support of the Iraqi government and U.S. military leadership, including Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, who recently was confirmed to his post by an 81-0 vote in the Senate. "The President ordered a new way forward in Iraq because he, like most Americans, believed the existing situation in Iraq was unacceptable. The President concluded that this new strategy was necessary in order to help the Iraqi government gain control over Baghdad, assume more responsibility for security, and pursue reconciliation of all of Iraq's communities. "The resolution is nonbinding. Soon, Congress will have the opportunity to show its support for the troops in Iraq by funding the supplemental appropriations request the President has submitted, and which our men and women in combat are counting on. The Onion: "President Bush announced Monday that his administration will permanently sever ties with the democratically controlled United States Congress, ending a nearly 220-year-old alliance between the two governmental branches." Thanks to the Daily Kos for the link. Captain's Quarters: "With all of the focus on Baghdad and the surge, the second portion of the President's new strategy has gotten little attention. Four thousand Marines have begun arriving in Anbar, the power base for al-Qaeda in Iraq, in order to clear the province of these terrorists. They may find their job a little easier than first thought, as the savagery of AQI has turned many tribal leaders against the extremists." Blogs for Bush: "I am so tired of people playing politics with war. This is exactly what I mean about people who won't stand for anything. They are useless. If the people who oppose the troop surge really want to take a stand, why don't they take a stand that means something. This is not only a waste of time and a bad idea, but it's downright silly. Why? That's my question. Why? Why would you authorize the Commander-in-Chief of your country to use force against those who threaten democracy and freedom in the world and then take away his means by which to use it?" "2008 pres" 7:58:17 AM

McCain for president? Say hello to John McCain. The U.S. Senator has put up a new website. He's letting supporters create their own website. "2008 pres" 7:53:07 AM

Energy policy: Geothermal New West: "Geothermal heat from underground could provide a significant fraction of the West's electricity, according to a newly released report from the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation and the Colorado Geological Survey. The study looks specifically at potential geothermal energy sources in Colorado, but parts of Utah and Nevada also harbor springs hot enough to fuel power plants... "The best spots for geothermal exploration in Colorado appear to be underneath Mt. Princeton, near Buena Vista. While geothermal energy will never provide more than 10 percent or so of the country's energy, it's an emission-free technology that is relatively cheap to produce, once the plants are built. The Bush administration's energy budget for 2007 includes no funds for geothermal-power R&D, because the Office of Management and Budget considers it a 'mature' energy source; according to the Geothermal Energy Association, U.S. production in 2005 was 0.36 percent of national electricity generation." "2008 pres" 7:31:54 AM

© Copyright 2009 John Orr. Last update: 3/15/09; 12:36:29 PM.