Once again, Republicans have proposed privatizing Medicare, despite the rather chilly reception this transcendently idiotic idea received last time. The logic is, as always, is that the hallowed Private Sector just does everything better than that wasteful, extravagant, ol’ Big Gummint, so why would caring for sick old people be any different? I won’t bore you with inconsequential minutia about risk pools, demographics, or, well, what makes health insurance pencil out as a business proposition, but I wish that, for once, they’d give an example wherein this cockamamie notion actually worked.

Dayen’s news roundup from February 13, 2011 with links to stories on the bank settlement, Obama’s budget, Rick/Mitt/Newt, Syria, Israel, Iran, Apple in China, the safety net, and much more.

David Dayen, born on 2.12, provides a round up of the news you might have missed from 2.12.12, including stories on the still undefined bank settlement, Komen Foundation, Maine caucus, jobs reports, an alternative to Keystone, Syria, Iran, gas prices, women in combat and much more.

A roundup of US and world news that happened before Rick Santorum’s anti-women’s, anti-universal health care, anti-safety net but I’m still moral crusade kept the GOP primary going. In the real world, there’s unemployment, a bank settlement, housing policies, Afghanistan, a stuck transportation bill, Germany vs Greece, Feingold vs SuperPacs and much more.