tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58086752009-12-22T07:10:47.008-06:00PBD - Progressive Blog DigestThis daily blog is composed of clips and links from other progressive blog and news sites, accompanied by my own observations. It documents the failure and decline of the Republican party, the ongoing legacy of the Bush years, and the efforts of the Obama administration to build a new, lasting Democratic coalition.Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comBlogger1996125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-71151978206616811052009-12-22T07:02:00.002-06:002009-12-22T07:10:47.026-06:002009-12-22T07:10:47.026-06:00LOSERSIt’s not nearly as much fun criticizing the Democrats here, even when they deserve it. But let’s remember the real villains of the health care storyhttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/gop-voted-to-delay-funding-for-troops----as-part-of-health-care-debate.phpIs there even a precedent for this sort of thing? We put that question to Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-90784622456991001472009-12-21T07:13:00.003-06:002009-12-21T07:22:05.706-06:002009-12-21T07:22:05.706-06:0060http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/us/21vote.htmlAfter a long day of acid, partisan debate . . .http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/democrats-elated-relieved-after-pushing-health-care-reform-forward.phpAs the clerk read the final tally aloud in the Senate chamber, Democrats, seated at their desks, muffled all of their emotions--enthusiasm, anxiety, relief. . . .http://Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-81607406047580575642009-12-20T07:51:00.003-06:002009-12-20T08:03:33.670-06:002009-12-20T08:03:33.670-06:00UP OR DOWN?The Dems avert complete political disaster by getting the 60 votes needed to push a health care bill out of the Senate. And, as discussed here yesterday, talk has already turned to what will happen when a slightly more progressive version comes back out of the House conference. Nelson, Lieberman, Landrieu and others probably won’t vote for it – but will they help filibuster final Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-68284552975977500732009-12-19T08:13:00.004-06:002009-12-19T11:10:16.991-06:002009-12-19T11:10:16.991-06:00THE ENEMY OF THE GOODOK, let’s take a step back from the artificially contrived drama of whether the Senate will pass anything by Christmas. Aside from the fact that it is displaying the dysfunctional nature of our governing process for all to see, it really doesn’t matter when the Senate bill is passed. What matters is what happens when this bastard stepchild is sent over to the conference with Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-4177003228177749172009-12-18T06:42:00.004-06:002009-12-18T07:38:38.135-06:002009-12-18T07:38:38.135-06:00LOSE-LOSE?The Republicans are rubbing their hands: they’ve managed to create a situation in which, if health care reform passes, they will represent it as a political win for them because of widespread discontent over the compromises in the bill; if the bill doesn’t pass, they will count it as an even bigger victory, because it shows that the Dems can’t govern. It's always good for the GOP! And Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-84992410329831196792009-12-17T06:34:00.004-06:002009-12-17T08:21:38.872-06:002009-12-17T08:21:38.872-06:00SLIP SLIDING AWAYSo, what will the narrative be? Obama masterfully holds together the fractious wings of his party to press through a historic reform of health care, despite universal and relentless GOP opposition? Or, Obama loses control of the process, and is ultimately forced to settle for a patchwork series of compromises that nobody likes?A new poll suggests the latter: http://Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-37035137928834135792009-12-16T06:32:00.005-06:002009-12-16T07:01:07.764-06:002009-12-16T07:01:07.764-06:00MY WAYYou can’t spell “Lieberman” without Liehttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/lieberman-tells-democrats-he-understands-how-hard-hes-made-health-care.phpSen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told colleagues in a closed-door Democrats caucus meeting today he "regrets" that his positions on the health care reform bill has made the process a tough one for his former colleagues in the Democratic party. Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-48441666889935930452009-12-15T06:26:00.002-06:002009-12-15T06:34:56.038-06:002009-12-15T06:34:56.038-06:00REWARDING BAD BEHAVIORObama lets Joe Lieberman rewrite the health care bill, tells progressives to eat s—t, smile, and like ithttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/white-house-pressures-reid-to-cut-a-deal-with-lieberman.phpWhite House Pressures Reid To Cut A Deal With Liebermanhttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/rahm-to-reid-give-lieberman-what-he-wants.phpRahm To Reid: Give LiebermanNick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-53668658859060406502009-12-14T06:31:00.002-06:002009-12-14T06:34:19.650-06:002009-12-14T06:34:19.650-06:00NO SURPRISEThings we already knew: Tony Blair admits that the war against Saddam had nothing to do with WMD’shttp://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-iraq-blair13-2009dec13,0,550799.storyFormer British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the staunchest ally of President Bush, says that absent the WMD claims, he still would have found an argument for invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein. . . .Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-14753900446953711352009-12-13T07:53:00.004-06:002009-12-13T08:53:47.970-06:002009-12-13T08:53:47.970-06:00UNCERTAIN PREDICTIONSOne can’t be naïve about the gritty politics of the situation, but it’s pathetic to see the inability of the DC establishment to deal with a substantively good policy proposal, the public option, which would help millions of people, just because of political cowardice and partisanismhttp://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/12/813551/-Hacker-on-the-Public-Plan-PerversionA badNick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-67090882900921269912009-12-12T07:12:00.004-06:002009-12-12T11:20:26.975-06:002009-12-12T11:20:26.975-06:00WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE?At the outset of the health care debate, the Republicans announced their intention to make this issue Obama’s “Waterloo,” and to give him a defeat no matter what he proposed. Even when they were negotiating with the Dems they did so in bad faith, saying they would vote against bills even after winning concessions on them. Since then, not a single Republican has voted for any Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-55618991410982107082009-12-11T07:13:00.004-06:002009-12-11T07:25:24.935-06:002009-12-11T07:25:24.935-06:00SATISFICINGWhat is in the compromise health care bill? We still don’t really knowhttp://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/10/812917/-Now-This-Is-Confusinghttp://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/explaining-the-senates-confusion-on-public-option/http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/10/812663/-It-would-be-good-politics-to-admit-the-bills-flaws[Jed Lewison] I tend to doubt there's any Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-64070675612214704922009-12-10T07:13:00.003-06:002009-12-10T07:29:20.211-06:002009-12-10T07:29:20.211-06:00MIXED MESSAGESLots of progressives are quietly hopeful about the health care dealhttp://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/howard-dean-senate-health-care-deal-contains-real-reform/http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/12/09/healthcare_liberals/index.htmlhttp://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/12/senate_health_care_compromise_progressives_cautious.phphttp://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-24921264353248977342009-12-09T07:34:00.002-06:002009-12-09T07:41:03.909-06:002009-12-09T07:41:03.909-06:00IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSEI think that’s about the best you can say about the new health care dealhttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/democrats-trade-opt-out-for-trigger-medicare-buy-in-and-more.phpDemocrats Agree To Tentatively Trade Opt-Out For Trigger, Medicare Buy In, And MoreReactions: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/the_team_of_10_reaches_a_deal.htmlhttp://Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-15924454404699282462009-12-08T07:02:00.002-06:002009-12-08T07:08:23.407-06:002009-12-08T07:08:23.407-06:00LET’S MAKE A DEALExpanding Medicare instead of a public option? That’s what we should have done in the first placehttp://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/one_way_out.phphttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/key-senators-confirm-medicare-buy-in-as-part-of-a-public-option-compromise.phpHow it would work: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/7/811654/-Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-33569001092347407922009-12-07T06:38:00.003-06:002009-12-07T06:51:17.578-06:002009-12-07T06:51:17.578-06:00HEATING UP56 newspapers in 20 languages publish the same editorial on climate change. Read ithttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/06/copenhagen-editorialGood questionhttp://www.juancole.com/2009/12/top-ten-questions-about-climate-change.html[Juan Cole] Why don't most American senators and congressmen have the gumption of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who called climate change Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-73468921943637788132009-12-06T06:09:00.002-06:002009-12-06T06:14:53.407-06:002009-12-06T06:14:53.407-06:00COMPROMISESAnother new non-public option “compromise”http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/5/811190/-Snowe-Back-at-the-Negotiating-Table-with-Dems,-Lincoln,-Pryor-Float-Another-Idea[NB: Looks like Ben Nelson (D-NE), who is continually threatening to support a filibuster over one issue or another – now it’s abortion – is not at the table, and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) is.]Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-31566067883754637492009-12-05T06:44:00.002-06:002009-12-05T06:54:11.195-06:002009-12-05T06:54:11.195-06:00CORPORATE MALFEASANCEIs Erik Prince, owner of Blackwater, blackmailing the CIA?http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/12/04/scahill-prince-is-conducting-graymail/News you need to knowhttp://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/8_million.php[O]ne wireless telecom company [Sprint] in a single year processed 8 million law enforcement requests for GPS data on the company's wireless users. And Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-38222767171921437392009-12-04T07:26:00.003-06:002009-12-04T07:34:14.756-06:002009-12-04T07:34:14.756-06:00MINORITY AFFAIRSThe Republicans are suddenly very interested in the rights of minorities – now that they are onehttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/reid-smacks-back-at-greggs-obstruction-memo.php[Judd Gregg, R-NH, on his obstruction memo] "I just find the irony of the situation so unique," Gregg said, "that a memo which outlines what the rights are of all members--members in the minority Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-47719198448738685342009-12-03T07:22:00.002-06:002009-12-03T07:30:42.976-06:002009-12-03T07:30:42.976-06:00RULES OF THE GAMEMore doubts about Obama’s Afghanistan policyhttp://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,664753,00.html[Der Spiegel, from David R.] "It was a dizzying combination of surge and withdrawal, of marching to and fro. The fast pace was reminiscent of plays about the French revolution: Troops enter from the right to loud cannon fire and then they exit to the left. And at the end, Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-75079843259299501232009-12-02T07:21:00.003-06:002009-12-02T07:46:35.197-06:002009-12-02T07:46:35.197-06:00DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAINObama was dealt a series of difficult choices on Afghanistan, and faced certain political criticism whatever he did. I hate to see the Afghan war, or any war, extended – but I also think that an immediate pull-out could have had devastating consequences for the region. You can say this for trying to thread the needle in the way that he did: it will be more difficult in the Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-57035060988837390592009-12-01T07:33:00.002-06:002009-12-01T07:42:15.152-06:002009-12-01T07:42:15.152-06:00DOUBTSObama hasn’t given his Afghanistan speech yet, but people are already unhappy about ithttp://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/11/inevitability-afghanistanhttp://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/countdown-special-comment-declare-vichttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/opinion/01herbert.htmlhttp://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/1/809439/-The-Afghan-Speech-Obama-Should-Give-%28But-Wont%Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-61818082561864990772009-11-30T06:53:00.003-06:002009-11-30T08:15:14.693-06:002009-11-30T08:15:14.693-06:00HURRY UP AND WAITBrilliant: the GOP feels the momentum for health care reform, and can’t stop it – so their new idea is just to put it on hold until next yearhttp://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/lugars-audacious-proposal-delay-health-care-until-next-year-and-focus-on-afghanistan.php?ref=fpbFor all the tough-guy posturing of the Bush/Cheney gang, the fact is that they failed us Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-78595072011774228902009-11-29T07:31:00.002-06:002009-11-29T07:34:12.705-06:002009-11-29T07:34:12.705-06:00DISAPPOINTMENTSWhat might have beenhttp://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/11/there-was-giant-network-of-mobilized.html[Atrios] There Was A Giant Network Of Mobilized IndividualsWho were waiting to continue doing things after the election. They weren't really wanted anymore.The demoralized lefthttp://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/covering-your-bases-by-digby-from-new.htmlhttp://Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-87413240306235844982009-11-28T06:50:00.004-06:002009-11-28T07:01:24.445-06:002009-11-28T07:01:24.445-06:00SCARED SHITLESSIt was the anthraxhttp://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/11/27/anthrax-attack-used-to-justify-the-iraq-war/Anthrax Attack Used to Justify the Iraq WarMore: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/11/27/anthrax/index.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5368813Cheney Thought He Had Lethal Anthrax DoseScare Prompted Veep to Take Hard Line on Terror Suspects, NewNick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.com