But you want health care reform?

Ha! 60 votes.

[Welcome Marian Brannan, and Host Lisa Derrick]  [As a courtesy to our guests, please keep comments to the book.  Please take other conversations to a previous thread. - bev] Twenty Remarkable Women Seen Through Their Handwriting makes me wish I had a niece old enough to appreciate this book–and one who won’t be spending most [...]

A study by the New Economics Foundation looked at six different jobs and compared what the worker got paid vs. the value the value of that work to society, among them bankers. The report concluded that City bankers to destroy £7 of social value for every pound in value they generate. In other terms, this is a net negative £6 (roughly $10 in U.S. currency) for every unit of production.

It’s predictable that news reports of the apparent “split” between Catholic Bishops and Catholic Nuns/Hospitals would be portrayed as a good omen; but it really tells us how threatened the First Amendment is.

Watch Mitch McConnell on “This Week” say with a straight face that the GOP was fiscally responsible during the Bush/Cheney years, that they valiantly kept those libruls in check on Medicare Part D, and that the country really didn’t have any serious debt problems until that reckless Obama came to town.

People who hoped the President would work for a better bill in conference are headed for disappointment. He won’t lift a finger for decent legislation, let alone progressive ideas.

In “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry tells the story of Della and Jim, a couple rich in love who can barely afford their $8 per week flat. It’s Christmas, and Della sells her long, beautiful hair to a wig maker so she can buy Jim a fob for his pocket watch. Meanwhile, Jim sells his beloved watch to buy Della combs for her silken tresses. Their selfless sacrifices become materially irrelevant as their love triumphs.

That vein in your forehead that throbs when someone says something stupid? I formally petition the American Medical Association to rename it the Lieberman “Sen. Joseph Lieberman, (I-Conn) a renowned hawk and one of the foremost champions of the invasion of Iraq, warned on Sunday that the United States faced “danger” unless it pre-emptively acts to curb the rise of terrorism in Yemen.”

After talking about this with a great many progressives on our show, I’ve come to some conclusions. These are so self-evident that they will be viewed as obvious in hindsight.

The Treasury had originally given both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a $200 billion line of credit. Even though neither company had come close reaching their current credit limit, the Obama administration had been thinking of doubling that line of credit to $800 billion total ($400 billion each). Instead of doubling the limit, the Obama administration announced late Christmas Eve that the Treasury department would give both companies an unlimited line of credit. By removing any cap on the potential loan before the end of the year, Obama was able to avoid getting Congressional approval for the decision.