Anytime Democrats or Republicans get whupped in a big national election, the pundits and chattering classes inevitably pose some existential questions: What went wrong? Does the party have a future? What is it? The 2016 presidential campaign was so ugly that reporters and TV talking heads are autopsying both parties. But there’s a different, practical […]
medicare
Posted inNews & Opinion
Democrats fell off the cliff and can’t get up
Some Democrats are crowing about the fiscal cliff outcome, and criticizing Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner for not having control of his party. Yesterday, many bloggers and political pundits cast President Obama as the clear winner in the fiscal cliff showdown. But as Obama signed the new tax bill into law yesterday morning, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Caring for caregivers
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve hiking in the Genesee River bed near Mt. Morris with my mother. We would spend hours looking for arrowheads, studying rock formations, or tracking deer. I still get a chuckle when I’m reminded of how unconventional she was compared to my friends’ mothers. Now much of my time […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Next debate, press for answers
Governor Mitt Romney’s debate performance last night has probably reenergized his campaign and given conservatives something to crow about after a month of mostly bad news. And President Obama, who often seemed intent on being restrained, is the purported loser in the first presidential debate, according to early polls. But Republicans shouldn’t get too cocky […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
NEWS BLOG: Romney, Ryan, Medicare, and risk
I dunno; maybe some political reporters are sensing something I’m not. I keep reading stories and blogs hinting that Mitt Romney has taken a risky – possibly fatal – step in choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate. The reason: Ryan’s hope to partially privatize Medicare. In their Politico post this morning, for instance, Alexander […]
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Our real crisis
The big Social Security crisis the Bush administration is keeping in the headlines is serving as a big distraction. The real crisis resides with Medicare/Medicaid. Yet the administration hardly ever mentions this fact. We wonder why. Given the mendacity of Bush and the mentality of his top advisors, it should not be hard to figure […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Pickpocket policies
It’s fun to keep up with the mobster-and-oligarch news from Russia. And things get really interesting when our market-manic media tie Russia’s economic woes to the privatization of former state enterprises. (There are limits, of course. Our media generally see privatization as bad medicine for them, but still necessary for us.) Yes, Russia is […]
