The Unknown Candidate

7 Great Websites for Information on Healthcare Reform

2009-09-18T14:44:00.005-05:00

By Mary Ward, Guest Contributer

If you’re like most people, you’ve been interested in following the healthcare debate as it happens. But, if you’re busy like most people, you may find it difficult to keep up with this ever changing debate. Following are some great resources for keeping up with the healthcare debate – and they’re all online.

Twitter – Twitter’s not just a site for keeping up with your friends, it’s also a great way to keep up with the news. There are 25 different feeds on Twitter that provide updates on healthcare reform as they happen. Some of them are admittedly a bit biased, but some are also dedicated to simply delivering developments.

Senate Health Education and Pension Committee – This is a link to the committee that started it all! This committee formerly chaired by Senator Ted Kennedy keeps track of the bill as it progresses. On this site you can see the bill as authored as well as changes to it as it moves through the process. This is one of the few places where you can read the bill in its entirety with no commentary.

White House Office of Management and Budget – Peter Orszag is the chief of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, and he posts a regular blog, which is lately often about healthcare reform. This is a great place for the White House take on things. New happenings are generally commented on frequently.

The Treatment – This is a blog, but it is written by Jonathan Cohn, the author of “Sick- the Untold Story of America’s Health Care Crisis – and the People Who Pay the Price”. Cohn is extremely knowledgeable and works hard to write a fair and informative blog.

Side By Side Comparison of Major Healthcare Proposals – Authored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, this site does a good job of comparing various major healthcare reform proposals. It takes a lot of the work out of the comparison for the consumer.

Covering Health – A website for journalists who report on healthcare, this site keeps very up to date on happenings regarding the healthcare debate. Since journalists use this website to assist them in their reporting on healthcare, you can count on it to be up to date and factual.

Healthcare Reform 2009 – This is the website for the New England Journal of Medicine. Most of the site requires membership, but anyone can access their extensive coverage on healthcare reform. This site offers commentary from several different points of view, and most of their commentators are experts in a particular area of healthcare.

There’s plenty of coverage out there right now on healthcare reform. Regardless of your opinion on the subject, you can find someone who’ll report exactly what you believe. But, if you want to know what’s really happening, these websites should give you plenty of information that is fairly reported and balanced. Sometimes, in any debate, the hardest information to come by is the factual information.

Mary Ward is a freelance writer and likes writing about medical education topics, such as how to research and choose among online X-ray tech schools, how to apply for online college grants, and more.

Deborah Orr: A Tribute to the Propaganda Box

2009-04-10T23:32:00.003-05:00

Sean Madden (inoodle.com) tackles one of my all time pet peeves: our mindless addiction to the overwhelmingly mindless Boob Tube. It's an interesting piece worth checking out here in its entirety.

Looking at Today's Financial Crisis Through a Historical Lens

2009-03-07T12:13:00.005-06:00

This is a MUST READ:

BANKERS MANIFESTO 1917/1934 - iReport.com

It's difficult to read the documents linked above and not join the ranks of the "conspiracy nuts" of the world. One cannot help but draw parallels to our current financial crisis and come to logical conspiratorial conclusions.

Am I wrong?

Doctor's Orders?

2009-02-20T14:40:00.001-06:00

Republicans claim that the new law says the government will tell physicians what procedures can and can't be performed. It doesn't.

read more | digg story

Did Obama pay for Hamas-affiliated terrorists to emigrate to the United States?

2009-02-20T13:36:00.000-06:00

More lies circulating from the Wingnuts: FactCheck.org sets the record straight.

High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs

2009-02-17T20:06:00.002-06:00

Bill Moyers interviews former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), MIT Sloan School of Management professor and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Simon Johnson examines President Obama's plan for economic recovery.

Broadcast February 13, 2009

For further information, see Simon Johnson's website: The Baseline Scenario

SOURCE: Information Clearing House - ICH

Petition Attorney General Eric Holder to Appoint a Special Prosecuter

2009-02-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

Formal Petition to Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes.

Sponsored by Docudharma.com and Democrats.com.

Blacklisting Progressives: The Untold Story Beneath the Daschle Headlines

2009-02-03T21:38:00.002-06:00

THIS IS A MUST READ:

David Sirota (Open Left) reports:

"Amid the swirling headlines about Tom Daschle withdrawing his nomination for Health and Human Service Secretary is a very dark, very foreboding story that tells us a lot more about what to expect from the Obama administration than a single nomination fight. It is a story that every single voter who supported Barack Obama because of his progressive economic platform should know about - and worry about...."

Putting Torture Behind Us

2009-01-29T13:41:00.003-06:00

"Rather than lose forever the chance to grow from our missteps," Nicholas Kristof (NYT) has a interesting "proposal for confronting Guantánamo without distracting from the work on the economic crisis."

Photo Credit: Nicholas D. Kristof. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times)

Feingold: Give Appointment Powers to the People

2009-01-26T16:20:00.002-06:00

Senator to Push For Constitutional Amendment

John Nichols (The Capital Times) reports:

"Following New York Governor David Paterson's controversial selection of Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and with the impeachment trial of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for abuses of office allegedly including the bartering off of the vacant Senate seat of President Barack Obama, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold wants to require that Senate vacancies be filled by the voters rather than individual governors...."

Continue Reading.

The People vs. Dick Cheney

2009-01-26T15:20:00.005-06:00

Karen Greenberg answers the question:

"Will Obama bring the Bushies to account? Will Congress? Some local DA? A judge in Europe? Anyone...?"

Illustration: Roberto Parada (Mother Jones)

Who Will Throw the Book at the Bushies?

2009-01-26T15:14:00.002-06:00

In a companion piece to "The People vs. Dick Cheney," Jonathan Schwarz reports:

"If Congress won't, these folks might...."

Obama, Pakistan, terrorism | Salon

2009-01-16T13:26:00.003-06:00

Obama, Pakistan, terrorism | Juan Cole | Salon:

"The president-elect wants to work with the Pakistani government to "stamp out" terror. It's not nearly that simple." Continue reading.

Photo Credit: Juan Cole. The Vineyard of the Saker: Amy Goodman interviews Professor Juan Cole on Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Kurdistan

Technorati tags: Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Obama, Foreign Policy, Juan Cole

Vote to Hold the Bush Administration Accountable

2009-01-16T13:12:00.002-06:00

UPDATE

An open letter to Barack Obama

Dear President-Elect Obama:

While I understand your desire to put the mistakes and failures of the Bush administration behind us and to focus on the future with a positive agenda of change, I believe it is absolutely necessary to the credibility of your promise of change that you investigate the abuses of the Bush administration and hold accountable anyone who has abused his or her power of office or participated in criminal acts.

Without holding government responsible for past abuses, there is nothing to preclude those same abuses from recurring. When you take the oath of office on January 20th, you will swear to uphold the Constitution. You cannot do so while allowing those who have disgraced it to fail to pay consequences for their actions.

Those who voted for you are passionately hopeful that you will live up to your campaign rhetoric and act boldly to do what is right for our country--no matter the political cost. We are facing unprecedented problems domestically and internationally. We need bold actions, truth, and real solutions.

I implore you to do what is necessary to restore the faith of Americans in our country's leadership by upholding your duties to protect the Constitution.

Thank you.

EVERYONE PLEASE VOTE TO APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTER BY CLICKING ON THE BADGE ABOVE.

Arianna Huffington: Memo to Obama: Moving Forward Doesn't Mean You Can't Also Look Back

Paul Krugman | Forgive and Forget? | NYTimes.com:
"...[A]bout Mr. Obama: while it’s probably in his short-term political interests to forgive and forget, next week he’s going to swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That’s not a conditional oath to be honored only when it’s convenient...."
Forcing Obama’s Hand on Torture Prosecutions | The Opinionator Blog | NYTimes.com:
"...The former chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and general counsel for the Department of the Army has spoken. Her clear words have been picked up around the world. And that takes the prospects of accountability and criminal investigation onto another level. For the Obama administration, the door to the do-nothing option is now closed. That is why today may come to be seen as the turning point."
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Holder Can't Prosecute Bush Abuses Too Many Democrats Aided and Abetted Them

Obama Has to Hold Bush Accountable for the Laws He Broke | Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation | AlterNet:
"Obama cannot let former Bush administration officials get away with breaking the law without violating his own oath of office...."

Technorati tags: War crimes, Prosecute, Special Prosecuter, Bush, Cheney, Bush Administration, torture, Justice, Geneva Convention, Paul Krugman

Exclusive: Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI

2008-12-23T23:15:00.002-06:00

Murray Waas reports:

"Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a still-highly confidential FBI report, admitted to federal investigators that he rewrote talking points for the press in July 2003 that made it much more likely that the role of then-covert CIA-officer Valerie Plame in sending her husband on a CIA-sponsored mission to Africa would come to light.

Cheney conceded during his interview with federal investigators that in drawing attention to Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s Africa trip reporters might also unmask her role as CIA officer...."

Continue reading.

Technorati tags: Murray Waas, CIA Leak Case, Plamegate, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson, Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby

If They Won't Impeach, Mail Your Sneaks

2008-12-18T00:41:00.003-06:00

If Congress won't impeach him, the least we can do is send him our shoes.

Please visit progressive.org and Shoe Bush Away!

Technorati tags: The Progressive, shoes, Bush, protest, shoe Bush away, activism

Two Cheers for Rod Blagojevich

2008-12-18T00:17:00.003-06:00

Frank Rich | NYTimes.com:

"ROD BLAGOJEVICH is the perfect holiday treat for a country fighting off depression. He gift-wraps the ugliness of corruption in the mirthful garb of farce. From a safe distance outside Illinois, it’s hard not to laugh at the “culture of Chicago,” where even the president-elect’s Senate seat is just another commodity to be bought and sold.

But the entertainment is escapist only up to a point. What went down in the Land of Lincoln is just the reductio ad absurdum of an American era where both entitlement and corruption have been the calling cards of power. Blagojevich’s alleged crimes pale next to the larger scandals of Washington and Wall Street. Yet those who promoted and condoned the twin national catastrophes of reckless war in Iraq and reckless gambling in our markets have largely escaped the accountability that now seems to await the Chicago punk nabbed by the United States attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald...." Continue Reading.

Photo Credit: Frank Rich. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times)

Technorati tags: Rod Blagojevich, Frank Rich, New York Times, Frauds, Corruption, Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Politics, Government, United States, op ed

�� It’s not about them…it’s about us

2008-12-16T11:39:00.002-06:00

��Why We Must Prosecute Bush And His Administration For War Crimes : Information Clearing House : Mike Ferner:

"...We are complicit in the horrors of this administration. We can claim neither ignorance nor innocence. We are complicit by the very fact that we are citizens of the United States, more so because we paid for the war, and even more so for this reason. Listen to a village sheik I met in Iraq describe it better than I ever could...."

More on this subject from Glen Greenwald:

� Senate report links Bush to detainee homicides; media yawns��
: Information Clearing House : Glen Greenwald:

" ...The culpability which the Report assigns for these war crimes is vast in scope and unambiguous....

[...]

...Instead, TV pundits were consumed with righteous anger over the petty, titillating, sleazy Rod Blagojevich scandal, competing with one another over who could spew the most derision and scorn for this pitiful, lowly, broken individual and his brazen though relatively inconsequential crimes...."

And then there is this:

�� Cheney Admits Authorizing Detainee's Torture : Information Clearing House:

"Monday, outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney made a startling statement on a nation-wide, televised broadcast.

When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture...."

Video is from ABC's World News, broadcast Dec. 15, 2008.

Technorati tags: Torture, War Crimes, Cheney, Bush, Bush administration, Glen Greenwald, Mike Ferner, video, youtube

Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008

2008-12-08T15:36:00.001-06:00

This is a MUST READ. Be sure to check out #6: "Greenhouse Gas Comes from Solar Panels."

What you don't know can hurt you.

Technorati tags: Foreign Policy, top ten, stories, missed, solar panels, solar energy

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks

2008-11-10T14:32:00.003-06:00

Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, reports:

With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy

"The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill. When they found out, some legislators were furious. Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin...."

Technorati tags: Washington Post, Amit R. Paley, Corporate Taxes, Congress, Bailout, U.S. Economy, Banks, Windfall, Treasury Dept., news

Obama Plans Guantanamo Close, US Trials

2008-11-10T14:23:00.002-06:00

MATT APUZZO AND LARA JAKES JORDAN (AP) report:

"President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice...."

Technorati tags: Barack Obama, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Justice, Politics, news

It Still Felt Good the Morning After

2008-11-09T13:43:00.006-06:00

Frank Rich | NYTimes.com:

"ON the morning after a black man won the White House, America’s tears of catharsis gave way to unadulterated joy.

Our nation was still in the same ditch it had been the day before, but the atmosphere was giddy. We felt good not only because we had breached a racial barrier as old as the Republic. Dawn also brought the realization that we were at last emerging from an abusive relationship with our country’s 21st-century leaders. The festive scenes of liberation that Dick Cheney had once imagined for Iraq were finally taking place — in cities all over America...."

Continue reading.

Photo Credit: Frank Rich. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times)

Other Reactions To Election and Obama's Victory:

Nicholas D. Kristof | Obama and the War on Brains | NYTimes.com

Tears to Remember | Judith Warner | NYTimes.com

Thomas Friedman | Show Me the Money | NYTimes.com

Al Gore | The Climate for Change | NYTimes.com

The World's View of Obama's Win | TIME

Technorati tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Frank Rich, New York Times, Politics, Barack Obama, Bush, Voting, Voters, commentary

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions

2008-11-08T22:47:00.002-06:00

Stem Cell, Climate Rules Among Targets of President-Elect's Team

Washington Post:

"Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team...."

Congratulations, America

2008-11-05T01:30:00.004-06:00

I have never been more proud of my country than I am tonight.
Congratulations to President Barack Obama.
And congratulations to America for reclaiming her soul.

The Unknown Candidate

7 Great Websites for Information on Healthcare Reform

Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

Deborah Orr: A Tribute to the Propaganda Box

Looking at Today's Financial Crisis Through a Historical Lens

This is a MUST READ:

Doctor's Orders?

Did Obama pay for Hamas-affiliated terrorists to emigrate to the United States?

High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs

Petition Attorney General Eric Holder to Appoint a Special Prosecuter

Blacklisting Progressives: The Untold Story Beneath the Daschle Headlines

THIS IS A MUST READ:

Putting Torture Behind Us

Feingold: Give Appointment Powers to the People

Senator to Push For Constitutional Amendment

The People vs. Dick Cheney

Who Will Throw the Book at the Bushies?

Obama, Pakistan, terrorism | Salon

Vote to Hold the Bush Administration Accountable

An open letter to Barack Obama

EVERYONE PLEASE VOTE TO APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTER BY CLICKING ON THE BADGE ABOVE.

Related:

Exclusive: Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI

If They Won't Impeach, Mail Your Sneaks

If Congress won't impeach him, the least we can do is send him our shoes.

Please visit progressive.org and Shoe Bush Away!

Two Cheers for Rod Blagojevich

�� It’s not about them…it’s about us

Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks

Obama Plans Guantanamo Close, US Trials

It Still Felt Good the Morning After

Other Reactions To Election and Obama's Victory:

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions

Congratulations, America

The Unknown Candidate

7 Great Websites for Information on Healthcare Reform

Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

Deborah Orr: A Tribute to the Propaganda Box

Looking at Today's Financial Crisis Through a Historical Lens

This is a MUST READ:

Doctor's Orders?

Did Obama pay for Hamas-affiliated terrorists to emigrate to the United States?

High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs

Petition Attorney General Eric Holder to Appoint a Special Prosecuter

Blacklisting Progressives: The Untold Story Beneath the Daschle Headlines

THIS IS A MUST READ:

Putting Torture Behind Us

Feingold: Give Appointment Powers to the People

Senator to Push For Constitutional Amendment

The People vs. Dick Cheney

Who Will Throw the Book at the Bushies?

Obama, Pakistan, terrorism | Salon

Vote to Hold the Bush Administration Accountable

An open letter to Barack Obama

EVERYONE PLEASE VOTE TO APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTER BY CLICKING ON THE BADGE ABOVE.

Related:

Exclusive: Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI

If They Won't Impeach, Mail Your Sneaks

If Congress won't impeach him, the least we can do is send him our shoes.Please visit progressive.org and Shoe Bush Away!

Two Cheers for Rod Blagojevich

������� It’s not about them…it’s about us

Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks

Obama Plans Guantanamo Close, US Trials

It Still Felt Good the Morning After

Other Reactions To Election and Obama's Victory:

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions

Congratulations, America

If Congress won't impeach him, the least we can do is send him our shoes.

Please visit progressive.org and Shoe Bush Away!

�� It’s not about them…it’s about us