The Liberal Doomsayer My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but as far as I'm concerned, neither major party is perfect. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 27 0 62 5011

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Ensign Plays "Nevada Hold 'Em" 2007-10-08 13:29:00 The following letter appeared in today’s New York Times…Your Sept. 27 editorial “Let the Sunshine In” left your readers in the dark on the issue of transparency in the Senate. I support electronic filing of fund-raising reports in the Senate because, as we probably agree, disclosure leads to more transparency in government. I have never had a secret hold on this bill.In the same spirit of transparency, I requested a vote on my amendment that would require groups filing ethics complaints against senators to reveal who is financing their efforts. Light needs to shine on this increasingly abused process, but Democrats are clearly afraid of voting on my amendment.Your editorial compared the House and the Senate, but on this issue there is a big difference. In the House, a member of Congress has to file a complaint. In the Senate, there are no requirements — anyone can do it anonymously, without even a signature. The result of the Democrats’ blocking my amendment is that people ...

Another Infamous Milestone 2007-10-08 12:14:00 One year ago yesterday, Anna Politkovskaya was murdered (this provides the background).Also, this Moscow Times article describes the difficulties faced by those who traveled to attend a demonstration in her honor (including Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service blocking a transfer of $30,000 from the National Endowment for Democracy based in the U.S. to stage the event, as well as members of human rights organizations from other countries being denied rooms they had reserved at local hotels).This New York Times article also tells us that independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Russian prosecutors know the identity of the man who killed her.And if anyone has any doubt that Russia is sliding back into some version of a dictatorship based not so much in ideology as in something like a “corpocracy” (with the power controlled ultimately by Vladimir Putin and that country’s vast energy market), then you need only read here about how Putin, as opposed to stepping down as presi ...

An Unholy "Conversion" 2007-10-08 11:38:00 In today’s New York Times, we are treated to more flimsy rationalizations from the Repugs on their opposition to fighting President Numbskull’s typically idiotic (and particularly cruel) SCHIP veto last week (this story may end up having more traction than the “General Betray Us” ad – it certainly should, anyway).And we are also treated to the following from one of their leading “lesser lights”…“If this was October of next year, I’d be really worried,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri (pictured), the second-ranking House Republican. “But this is October of this year and the beginning of us getting our credibility back by showing that we are willing to take principled stands on spending.”It continually amazes me to read quotes like this from the Repugs, since these insights end up stating at least as much about how they feel towards the vast majority of us than their actual positions.Basically, Blunt thinks we’re stupid and we’ll just forget about ...

Sunday Videos 2007-10-07 22:27:00 I think the technical difficulties have been resolved - I hope so anyway, so I'll try to get back into the video thing...Tegan and Sara ("Back In Your Head")......and happy belated birthday to blues legend Duke Robillard ("Sewed Up," with Kid Bangham and The Fabulous Thunderbirds). ...

Another Voice On SCHIP 2007-10-06 19:41:00 Hat tip to Bill Scher at The Huffington Post for this one...Update 10/11/07: In response to the commenter, this biased "blog author" (Quotes, huh? Screw you.) found the following (from here)…Section 651 creates new limitations on the exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals. This section would establish several new reporting and disclosure requirements, including submission of annual reports that identify each physician owner and a requirement to have disclosure procedures in place that inform patients of a physician’s ownership interest. Other changes include a limit on the aggregate physician ownership of a hospital to 40 percent of the total value, with the investment interest of any individual physician owner not to exceed 2 percent of the total value of the investment interest held in the hospital.This provision prospectively abolishes the so-called “whole hospital” exception that allowed physicians to refer Medicare patients to a hospital ...

Today's Random Thought 2007-10-06 17:43:00 Did anyone besides me notice that the Google ads have gotten really interesting lately (and a bit graphic too)? ...

The Good And The Bad...And The Good 2007-10-05 22:41:00 Good for Max Baucus on SCHIP......and bad for Flush Limbore and the Repugs for trying to make money off the "phony soldiers" mess, brought to us by the pre-eminent right wing propagandist of the airwaves......and good for John Edwards (to help, click here). ...

The (Non) Trouble With Harry 2007-10-05 17:01:00 A man named Harry S. Dent, Jr. passed away on Tuesday, and I’ve been thinking about him a bit off and on since then. And before his name disappears into history, I just wanted to say something about him.You know how much we detest Republicans for their “southern strategy” of catering to racists for their votes, codifying their language with phrases such as “states rights” in particular, as well as emphasizing “law and order”?Dent invented the so-called southern strategy, and the first person to use it was Richard Nixon when running for president in 1968.As the New York Times tells us here…When President Lyndon B. Johnson championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, some Republican strategists saw a potential bonanza in the South. They thought their party could reap the votes of white people uneasy with Democrats, or downright hostile to them, for advancing the cause of black people.(South Carolina Senator Strom) Thurmond became a Republican ...

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (10/5/07) 2007-10-05 15:58:00 As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.HouseChildren's health care. The House passed, 265-159, and sent to the Senate a five-year renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program set to cost $60 billion, up $35 billion from current spending on the program designed mainly to insure needy youth not covered by Medicaid.A yes vote was to pass HR 976.Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) and H. James Saxton (R., N.J.).And as noted here, Saxton was targeted immediately for this vote, as well he should be.And I actually can’t think of a word ...

How About A "No Nuke" Compact? 2007-10-05 14:43:00 The Washington Post tells us here that U.S. House Reps Howard Berman (D-CA), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, of course) are pushing for a nonbinding resolution concerning “constraints on future nuclear dealings with India.”I actually thought these three might have been doing the right thing (silly me), until I read about the so-called Hyde Act that was devised when Dubya and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005 (which is what the three are contesting).This post about the act states the following…On the nuclear front the Act offers India access to technology for new, bigger, and better reactors, as well as uranium for those reactors - something we are short of domestically. On the foreign policy front the Act shows that India can now create a space for itself and eventually be recognized as a nuclear state. By no means are these achievements to be scoffed at.Critics point out that what it offers, the Act can also take away…Nuclear cooperation ...

Win Ben Stein A Conscience 2007-10-05 11:02:00 As most people living in this locality know by now, the Bucks County Courier Times, on occasion, does feature enlightened commentary on its editorial page from people such as Gene Lyons, Marie Cocco, Paul Campos, and others of a liberal/Democratic/progressive persuasion. However, much more often than not, it is home to a seemingly endless parade of self-righteous freeper pundits who are only too happy to scold others whose only offense is to live lives or engage in a particular thought or behavior deemed repugnant by someone who has been granted column space.I know it is pointless to answer these people and counterproductive ultimately. I don’t have any raw numbers on this, but I would guess that the audience that actually thinks these right-wing egotists know what they’re talking about is shrinking by the minute. However, I sometimes find their behavior too offensive to ignore.And today is one of those times.Apparently, Ben Stein, the sometimes actor, wannabe comedian and full-tim ...

There's The Matter Of Torture, Senator 2007-10-04 17:07:00 This Boston Globe story notes that Sen. Patrick Leahy wants Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to answer a range of questions about how Bushco operates, from the warrantless wiretaps to the firing of the prosecutors who didn’t do the bidding of Abu G and the Senate Repugs.(Hmm, “Abu G. And The Senate Repugs”; does that sound like a name for a punk garage band playing at the Khyber in downtown Philly or something? Just wondering…).However, as important as those other issues are, the story only makes a passing reference to torture, or, as the Globe puts it, “interrogation methods with captured terrorist suspects” (a matter which, along with just about everything else, is “off limits” as far as White House lawyer Fred Fielding is concerned).Gee, Fred, Vermont is lovely this time of year. What else is Leahy supposed to talk about, then? The onset of the fall foliage season?One day we will be governed by adults again (and of course, White House spokesperson Dana Perino ...

No Doubting Thomas, Sadly 2007-10-04 15:24:00 So Supreme Court flunkie justice Clarence Thomas had a big party the other day to celebrate the release of his new book with his other neocon fellow travelers.Whoop-de-freaking-doo…I don’t think there is anyone else in public life, with the possible exception of Dubya, who has risen to a position of prominence so far above his qualifications who is so resolutely bitter about it, imaging enemies everywhere he looks.But the only reason why I’m bothering to take any time on this subject is because of the following from this Washington Post story…NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and Thomas talked about Georgia. Thomas posed for a picture with a woman in a huge red hat. "I like that hat!" he said to Linda Softli of the Black Republican Women.Given Bushco’s contempt for African Americans in this country (one word: Katrina, and other evidence is provided here), can someone please explain to me why the leader of an organization that ostensibly represents African Americans would have any re ...

The World According To “Genghis” Cohen 2007-10-04 11:37:00 My goodness, is Roger Cohen in a spirit of jingoistic right-wing triumphalism today in the New York Times, or what (here)? I haven’t seen such armchair warrior ferocity since Don (“The Defense Secretary We Had”) Rumsfeld skipped out of Washington, D.C. for the comfy confines of the Hoover Institution.Tristero over at Hullaballo (h/t Atrios) addressed a good bit of what I’d planned to say very well here, so I’ll just point you over there. However, Cohen did manage to sneak in some other propaganda that I want to comment on, to wit…When John Kerry was vilified as a flip-flopping liberal by those armchair warriors, Bush and Cheney, I knew where I stood. When Michnik and Kouchner are neocons and MoveOn.org is the Petraeus-insulting face of never-set-foot-in-a-war-zone liberalism, I’m with the Polish-French brigade against the right-thinking American left.(Cohen defines somewhat who Koucher is, but he really doesn’t bother to say much about Michnik – oh well…).More to th ...

Steve And Patrick Under Fire In Bucks, PA 2007-10-04 10:23:00 (I would have gotten to this earlier, but I've had some technical difficulties; that's why there haven't been any videos for the last couple of days - hopefully all will be made right soon).The following letter appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times yesterday…As a lifelong Democrat and one who has supported Congressman Patrick Murphy financially and politically, I was offended by Murphy’s $1,000-per-person fundraiser in Newtown at the Brick Hotel on Sept. 24.The event was the first meeting of the “Congressional Policy Group” wherein members must make a required $1,000 annual donation to Murphy’s political campaigns. Donors, through their purchased membership, will apparently have the good congressman’s ear to discuss “a range of policy issues” directly with Murphy.While I do see the value of organizing a broadly based think tank to help our congressman understand and act on the concerns of his constituents, I fail to see how the required $1,000 access fee is appr ...