Featuring new videos from Wovenhand and Sara Watkins.

How many more industries are we on the hook for?

The Baucus bill creates a new ombudsman office that will “act as a consumer advocate.” This is a good idea. The problem is that Baucus makes the new ombudsman’s office nearly worthless by dramatically restricting individual ability seek help with their insurance companies. But it has a huge loophole just begging to be abused. You will be forbidden to get help until you have exhausted all internal appeals.

Last December, 200 workers peacefully took over the Chicago Republic Window plant and staged a sit-in that got widespread media coverage and support from politicians and police. The sit-in was held in order that the workers would receive accrued vacation and sick pay and other benefits rightfully theirs under their contract. By keeping the Republic management out, the union workers preserved evidence of gross wrongdoing on the part of the management. That evidence has now led to the arrest of Republic CEO Richard Gillman.

I highly recommend read this new Reuters story on how useless Conrad’s idea of small statewide co-ops would be. The story quotes several experts who all agree with what most of the progressive community has been saying for months. The co-ops would be so legally restricted by Baucus’s bill that they would have little to no impact on health insurance in this country.

It’s a big day for net neutrality. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski officially endorsed net neutrality as the policy for the FCC.

It can’t be said enough that the House health reform proposal for a surtax on those with very high income makes a lot of sense, and now it’s clear that Senators from Snowe to Rockefeller agree with this principle. They just don’t admit it.

Daily Kos just published a new poll by Research 2000 showing that a plurality of Ross’ district support the public option.

There is a new report out in the scientific journal Trends in Cognitive Science: Science and Society, by Irish professor and researcher Shane O’Mara, on the deleterious effects of the procedures employed by the Bush Administration torture program that shows the CIA’s harsh interrogation program likely damaged the brain and memory functions of terrorist suspects.

Rep. Nadler: At least some of us ARE fighting back, and in the health care fight, the public option is still very much alive only because the progressives have stood together and held our ground and said that, regardless of what the President or Leadership says, we won’t vote for any bill w/o a public option.