While Hilda was taping CNN Eve and I got into an argument with some health insurance industry lobbyists, and when Hilda was taping MSNBC we argued with Kent Conrad. 

Lesson learned:  when the camera’s on Hilda, head for the hills.

• Same old, same old.
• Love the GOP’s Latino outreach program.
• Masters of the Universe rake it in.
• But the rest of us are still getting screwed.
• Go Huck!
• Those zombies are hard to kill.
• The fix is in.

The GOP, keeping their mouths where the money is.

New video set to the band Miike Snow (no such person) song, Burial, and a new release from James Yorkston.

The governor of South Carolina is off again on another romantic holiday.

As I wrote yesterday, states from California to New York are mitigating effects of the crisis by closing prisons and experimenting with alternative corrections programs. Though the principal motivation – financial – implies that this is a patchwork remedy for a temporary ill, early signs of a shifting attitude towards incarceration surfaced years before the crisis.

Policies seemingly compelled by a temporary economic situation were, in fact, merely expedited, and the boost given them by fiscal necessity may be a pivotal factor in their long-term institutionalization.

Michigan is one example. Its plan to close eight prisons this year continues a trend that began in 2005, with 11 prison and work-camp closings in the interim:

Where did all the work-camp inmates go? They’re on parole, part of a sea change in corrections philosophy. With 21,000 parolees, a record-high number, Michigan is four years into a reform centered on community supervision rather than incarceration. The state says it’s working.

Despite push-back from corrections officers, their unions, and state legislators – including a warning from a union leader that “the public better lock their doors” – the program is earning praise. It’s also contributing to the right sort of police statistics; crime is down, the recidivism rate is down, and it’s saving the state between $25 and $30 million a year.

We as a movement fighting for health care need to ask ourselves “What Would Wellstone Do?”

We needed four commisioners to get the work started, and we have 6 commissioners appointed today. Huzzah!

Willard sent me an email this morning warning of the evils of big gubmint health care — and has a much better plan in mind.

The conservative-created myth of ‘the liberal media’ just took another body blow:The State newspaper of South Carolina has used a public records request to obtain emails sent to and from Governor Mark Sanford’s office during the hectic few days last month when he had gone missing. It’s not surprising that the emails underline the utter confusion that beset the governor’s hapless aides as they tried to ward off inquiries about