The attempt in all these ideas to nudge the medical system away from fee-for-service medicine toward an approach that ties compensation more closely to results captures how much the health care debate has shifted toward cost-control. So far, the rise in health care spending has proven almost invulnerable to every previous attempt to tame it, like the managed care revolution in the 1990s. Even if Obama signs into law a final bill embodying all these reform proposals, many skeptics wonder if they can bend, much less break, the seemingly inexorable increase in health care spending. Reischauer understands that skepticism, but isn't able to entirely suppress a kernel of optimism that this latest reform agenda may prove more effective than its predecessors. "One never knows whether we're turning the corner or if this is just playing the same old game for another inning," he says. "But I sense there's something different out there. I think the medical profession and its leaders have read the handwriting on the wall and are trying to evolve." If so, the ideas the Senate will begin voting on tonight could mark a milestone in that journey.

via politics.theatlantic.com

Health care lives, as Senator Reid gets his 60 votes. Excellent analysis from Ron Brownstein.

After ten months in office, Barack Obama must feel he has been in a long tennis match with nobody on the other side of the net.

In the stands is a chorus of Republicans yelling "Out!" at everything he serves, while jeering that he is moving too fast on the economy and too slowly on Afghanistan.

On the other side, Democrats are weakly cheering him on but spending much of their energy fighting one another to position themselves for their own contests next year.

via ajliebling.blogspot.com

Word of wisdom from Robert Stein. The economy is indeed President Obama's toughest challenge, and it's no accident his popularity rating parallels American economic strength like a train track to the political future.

And I'll go on sharing "my media" - links, articles, photos, songs, podcasts, and videos - through Facebook and Twitter and other platforms, mainly because that's where the people are. But like a lot of my blogging friends, I despaired a bit for this little corner of the digital media universe. The long silences, the crickets and tumbleweed, bothered me. Yet, there I was shifting my idea-sharing and conversation to Facebook and Twitter.

So now, I'm shifting them back here.

Last year, we loved the work of the folks who put together the first Tweetsgiving – an online fundraising and advocacy campaign for the children of Tanzania, through the work of the excellent EpicChange.org. This year, they’re back again with ambitious plans to raise more money, engage more supporters, and bring people together in events across the country. The donor stewardship – an old school term, to be sure – was particularly cool after the Tweetsgiving campaign last November. The EpicChange team had video and photos ready of the classroom that the Tweetsgiving donors paid for with more than $10,000 in gifts – complete with donors’ Twitter handles hand-painted on the walls by students. That pretty much assured repeat donations, at least for this click jockey...

via causewired.com

It's Tweetsgiving time - this is a great campaign. Click here to check it out or make a gift.

As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks on yet another diplomatic journey, women leaders representing the coalition she helped to ignite with her justly-famous speech on women's rights in Beijing 15 years ago gathered in a Florentine villa on a crisp Tuscan autumn morning recently to review the successes - and failures - of the last decade and a half in women's rights and economic empowerment worldwide.

via www.onphilanthropy.com

This was my expanded onPhilanthropy.com report on the Florence trip to take part in the Vital Voices conference. There are women on the front lines of conflict all around the world.

I love the tradition of the Beaujolais Nouveau. It was released yesterday, the third Thursday in November, like it has been for decades.Some look down on it as nothing but a over-active marketing campaign for vin ordinaire. And it is that. I don’t drink vin ordinaire as a matter of course, except when in France, where it accompanies all meals unless you specify to upgrade. So I enjoy my attention being focused on this Gamay grape once a year.I love that it started as a celebration of the end of the harvest, vin de l’annee ... The immediacy reminds me to think about the person in Beaujolais who picked the grapes (as by law they must be picked by hand).The Beaujolais Nouveau ushers in the holiday season for many people. On the Upper West Side, it pairs beautifully with the sweet, delectable Clementines that are appearing everywhere

via mapeel.blogspot.com

Note to blogger hereabouts: get thee to wine store.

Looks like Sarah Palin has disappointed some of her fans: She's making a big mistake. One of the most important things a country star does is cater to the fans. It's expected that they will stay for long hours and sign memorabilia and get their picture taken:Have you ever wondered why careers of country stars last a long, long time? The biggest reason, of course, is great songs. Another reason is that country stars know how to treat fans. Look at Kenny Chesney, one of the hottest out there, who is always ready with a smile at a meet-and-greet. George Jones and Willie Nelson are always ready to give an autograph or have a photo snapped. One year during Fan Fair, Garth Brooks signed autographs for 23 hours without a taking a pee break. Amazing!

via digbysblog.blogspot.com

Digby very cannily compares Sarah Palin's lacking work ethic on tour with hard-working country stars who know how to put in the hours for the fans.

Organizing for America has announced the winner of its Health Reform Video Challenge, and it's terrific. Hope the Senate's watching.

What was with last night's Season 6 finale of Project Runway? It was as if a bolt of bad news had been delivered backstage to which the audience wasn't privy but which left the judges lachrymose and shaken. First Coach Ryan weeping in the Jets locker room, and now this.

via www.vanityfair.com

The move to Los Angeles put this series into the deep end of the dead pool - like the whole thing was moving underwater. Too many tears.

Tower of Chiesa di Ognissanti, originally uploaded by Tom Watson.

Another photo from Florence, from the balcony of my hotel room. I loved the light in this shot - the 13th century church is where Botticelli is buried and includes the chapel of the Vespucci family.

I'm not convinced Washington has awakened to the reality yet -- but the 2010 Census is going to shake things up politically in this country, and politicians would do themselves a favor to wake up and smell the coffee in advance.

via www.longislandwins.com

Important post from Ted Hesson over at Long Island Wins (disclosure: CauseWired's valued client). As Ted says, 'raw political power' indeed. Even red states will owe new Congressional seats to Latino migration and immigration. Fascinating stuff.

We’ve been watching Ken Burns’ The Civil War and last night we finished the episode that includes the battle of Gettysburg.  And when Burns begins to tell the story of Pickett’s Charge, the historian Shelby Foote, the shy-eyed, slow-talking baritone who is the star of the narrational portions of Burns’ documentary, refers to a quote from William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust about how for young Southern men it’s always early in the afternoon of July 3, 1863, the lines are still forming in the woods, the battle flags are about to unfurl, and that wide open field still looks like the clear road to Washington and the end of the war and victory for the South.

via lancemannion.typepad.com

Yeah, we're still fighting this war, Lance.

The Who have agreed to play during halftime at Super Bowl XLIV, a source close to the performance confirms to Rolling Stone. “It’s 100 percent the Who,” the source says. “They signed a long time ago.” (Update: Sources later clarified that while the official contract is still unsigned, a deal is expected to be finalized shortly.) The official announcement from the band and the NFL is expected on Thanksgiving Day, according to another source familiar with the deal. The game, which will take place February 7th in Miami, will be broadcast on CBS.

via www.rollingstone.com

What's the setlist? Who Are You, Can't Explain, Won't get Fooled Again - or do they end with iconic/ironic My Generation, replete with shattered Fender merch?