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Late Late Night FDL: Out Of Luck Duck

By: Suzanne Saturday November 7, 2009 10:00 pm

Yakky Doodle starring in Out Of Luck Duck.

This Hanna-Barbera cartoon first aired on January 30, 1961, on the pilot episode of The Yogi Bear Show.  Written by Michael Maltese.  Story Direction by Alex Lovy.  Animation by Lewis Marshall.  Layout by Paul Sommer.  Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas.  Titles by Lawrence Gobel.  Voices by Jimmy Weldon (Yakky), Vance Colvig (Chopper), and Daws Butler (The Cat).  Production supervision by Howard Hanson.  Produced and directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.

What’s on your mind?

H.R. 3962 Health Care Bill Passes

By: Rayne Saturday November 7, 2009 8:16 pm

nancyAs of 11:07 p.m. ET, we have a health care reform bill. Although five minutes remained on the clock, the votes were all in with 220 Yeas, 215 Nays.

Of the Nay votes, 39 were Democrats.

There was a lone Republican Yea from Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana. Good for him.

There has been clapping and cheering on the floor of the House, as if they did something really great today. I wish I could feel the same way, really.

But for me, the Stupak Amendment was like the vote for cloture on Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court and the vote for cloture on the Military Commissions Act. The failure to vote in line with Democratic values for cloture told us all we needed to know.

We can’t trust the right thing will be done in conference committee, based on what we’ve seen in the past.

Anybody else feeling as used and discarded right now as I do?

UPDATE: There’s a few folks who don’t understand why some of us are upset about the way things went down today. Our Scarecrow explains it well, in comments:

It’s like winning a huge battle, but half of your friends were killed or wounded.

36 million more people will be insured or become eligible for Medicaid
There will be a trillion dollars raised to help subsidize this.
There will be multiple measures to help control the costs of Medicare
We will stop subsidizing private insurers in Medicare Advantage
Closes the donut hole
Allows Medicare negotiation for drugs
Includes the seeds of a public option
Prohibits denials based on prior conditions; ends rescissions except for fraud
funds more education for doctors/nurses
Begins dozens of health prevention programs, pilots, surveys
Creates entities to evaluate and recommend better treatment, cost saving
And on and on.

It’s a massive achievement, but women, mostly poor, paid a price.

Yeah. What Scarecrow said.

Stupak Amendment Passes; 64 Dems Ask for Primary Opponents

By: Rayne Saturday November 7, 2009 7:37 pm

storm3[Ed. note: At 11:01 p.m. ET we are now watching the final vote for H.R. 3962, the health care bill itself. Stay tuned here for more coverage.]

Do you like that headline? Because that’s what I’m feeling right now after the betrayal of my support for Democrats, now that the Stupak Amendment passed 240 to 194 and with 64 Democrats voting Yea.

It’s a fundamental part of our belief system in the Democratic Party, that women have a right to privacy in their reproductive health care decisions. We’ve fought long and hard to protect this right.

And now we’ve seen decades of work to protect this fundamental human right dashed by our own Democratic representatives.

Many of you are going to say you’re walking away. And many more are going to rant and rave and carry on for a while.

This is when it’s time to gather resources and plan more carefully for the next phase in what is a lifelong effort. Democracy isn’t easy, after all. And she’s not cheap. We’re going to have to continue to fight, but we’re going to have to become even more effective.

What say you?

UPDATE: A list of the Yea votes follows after the jump. Read the hall of shame.

Stupak Amendment, Redux: Recorded Vote Live Blog

By: Rayne Saturday November 7, 2009 6:56 pm

The Stupak Amendment went down about 8:12 p.m. ET, more Nays than Yays; Rep. Stupak asked for a roll call vote. Watch the vote with us after the Republicans finish their unilateral debate about their own substitute health care bill.

Shadegg (R) To Vote Present On Stupak Amendment

By: David Dayen Saturday November 7, 2009 6:00 pm

Ah, Republicans. So used to obstruction that they'll obstruct their own priorities.

Stupak Amendment Debate Begins

By: David Dayen Saturday November 7, 2009 4:57 pm

Here it is. There will be 20 minutes of debate on the Stupak Amendment, and then, I assume, a vote. I'll be updating.

Stupak Amendment Could Likely Be Used by Insurance Companies to Discriminate Against Low Income Americans

By: Jon Walker Saturday November 7, 2009 4:00 pm

The Stupak amendment would prevent any private health insurance plan from covering elective abortion, if even one of its customer used even one dollar of affordability tax credits. The problem is that the Stupak amendment will conflict directly with other parts of the bill. The bill would require “guaranteed issue.” This means that any insurer offering coverage to individuals on the health insurance exchange most accept all customers.

FDL Book Salon Welcomes Hillary Rettig, The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way

By: Joe Brewer Saturday November 7, 2009 2:00 pm

Today’s book salon focuses on something that I think should get a lot more attention than it does – our psychological well-being as progressive activists. Hillary Rettig’s book, The Lifelong Activist, seeks to help us build activism sustainably into our lives. In order to do so, we’ll need to take better care of ourselves. She starts with an aspiration and a challenge, offering this vision: “Imagine how different the world would be if there were twice – or ten times! – as many progressive activists as there are now, and if those activists were happy and effective and enjoying long full-time or part time careers. Entire societies and cultures, and quite possibly every society and culture, would be transformed.”

Have You Heard the One About Torture?

By: Gregg Levine Saturday November 7, 2009 12:59 pm

I didn’t think it needed saying, but obviously it does: Having to sit through a half-day’s worth of partisan wrangling, where you have access to water, food, staff, and the warm glow of TV cameras is not worse than (or even akin to) years of indefinite detention in a prison cell on a remote island, cut off from anyone you know or love, subject to routine abuse and frequent torture, all conducted under a cloak of official secrecy, outside the rule of law, without any recourse or any reasonable expectation that this hell will ever end. Further, such jocular comparisons are singularly insensitive to the denigration of human rights perpetrated under the color of authority, and, what’s more, are not in the least bit funny.
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BOOK SALON
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Sunday, November 8, 2009 5:00pm Eastern

Chat with Dr. David Kessler about his new book. Hosted by Jill Richardson.

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Monday, November 9, 2009 8:00pm Eastern

Chat with Maggie Mahar, Author, about the new film and her book. Hosted by Lisa Derrick.

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