Really

These are the 'Masters of the Universe'?

WTF?

Worthwhile Link

Bruce Bartlett has some great suggestions on how to structure a commission to deal with the national debt.  What's interesting is that Bartlett is a solidly Republican economist (made his name under Reagan), he recognizes the need for current deficit spending.  At the same time, he is gravely worried about the long-term debt troubles this nation will face.  Planning for dealing with this debt should be a priority, even if near-term economic conditions argue for continued deficit spending.

Interesting developments in Pakistan

The Pakistani government appear to have actually filed charges against the cleric at the head of the organization behind the Mumbai bombings.  This sort of tacit admission of guilt is interesting, though I'd be really surprised if he was actually punished in a meaningful way.  Still, some progress is better than nothing.

Good Cause

So while I've spent the past couple of weeks trying to ease our new batch of interns into our office I have been remiss in my duties as a blogger.  And, to make it up to you, I offer a link to a good cause.  I'm trying to figure out what I have that might be worthwhile to add to the library but I figure it can't hurt to offer them some publicity, however small.

Go Watch 'Generation Kill'

I'm determined to check out 'Hurt Locker' on dvd, but 'Generation Kill' is a great tv series and should count as meaningful 'art' regarding the Iraq war.

Shorter Version of What I Just Said

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/07/john-boehner/boehner-says-democrats-health-care-plan-would-lead/

Damn liberal media with their biased fact-checking.

Not Entirely Accurate

I spent some time last week looking into the issue of whether the proposed health care reform we've seen so far would, in fact, increase the amount of Federal funding going to pay for abortion and the best answer I can say is, it would but the increases are fairly minor and don't, in fact, represent much of a change from the status quo.  Matthew Yglesias statement here elides a couple of things and isn't entirely accurate, at the same time, claims that tens of millions of new abortions will be caused by this isn't really borne out by any reasonable analysis either.  There is not, in the legislation proposed so far, any major changes to Federal abortion policy (the Hyde amendment and other similar legislation are not touched).  However, the increase in funding would come in two ways: 1. a public plan would likely provide recipients with coverage, in the same way individuals with Medicaid/Medicare would have access to coverage and 2. individuals receiving subsidies could use those subsidies to purchase plans that would cover abortions as well.  There are not requirements that Catholic hospitals offer abortions on demand.  Claims to the contrary are either misinformed or lying-period.

BaucusCare 09

If you haven't checked out the framework Max Baucus dropped on the Gang of Six today, I suggest you do so.  Not only does this appear to be the bulk of what will come out of Finance but Baucus appears to be deadly serious about starting a markup within the next two weeks.  This means two things; one is that health care reform remains on track for passage this fall and two, Olympia Snowe will likely have almost final say in whatever bill goes through (as Ezra Klein details nicely here).  The only other thing I would add is that Snowe may be MORE liberal on this than Baucus or Conrad, as she seems to prefer a 'triggered' public option.  Since Ben Nelson (likely vote #59 in any moving bill) recently came out in support of this ploy, I'm starting to see a trend.

As to the framework itself, there are provisions for Kent Conrad's co-ops.  Beyond that the bill is a significant improvement on our current system and while specifics may be dicey (the subsidies could be higher and the funding remains murky), it still is something Obama and the Democrats could be proud of if its the best they can move through Congress.  Plugging some holes in reform is still far better than standing for the status quo.

By Way of Balloon Juice