Salazar -- another crappy Obama appointee. Guess he decided to keep the change.

From Wikepedia:

On May 23, 2005, Salazar was among the Gang of 14 moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the filibuster against judicial appointments, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bushappellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Salazar has skirmished with Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative Christian group of national stature, over his stance on judicial nominees.

In 2005, Salazar voted against increasing fuel-efficiency standards (CAFE) for cars and trucks, a vote that the League of Conservation Voters notes is anti-environment. In the same year, Salazar voted against an amendment to repeal tax breaks for ExxonMobil and other major petroleum companies.^[6]

In August 2006, Ken Salazar supported fellow Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary race againstNed Lamont in Connecticut. Lamont, running primarily as an anti-war candidate, won the primary. Salazar's continued support of Lieberman, who successfully ran as an independent against Lamont, has rankled the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party.

In 2006, Salazar voted to end protections that limit offshore oil drilling in Florida's Gulf Coast.^[7]

In 2007, Salazar was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote against a bill that would require the United States Army Corps of Engineers to consider global warming when planning water projects.^[8]

According to Project Vote Smart, Ken Salazar received a 25 percent vote rating for 2007 by the Humane Society of the United States,^[9] a zero percent vote rating for 2005-2006 by Fund for Animals,^[10] a 60 percent vote rating for 2007 by Defenders of Wildlife,^[11] and a zero percent vote rating on the Animal Welfare Institute Compassion Index^[12]. He also supported the Bush Administration's release of lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for emergency haying in Colorado's Yuma and Phillips Counties.^[13] Salazar has an 81 percent lifetime rating from theLeague of Conservation Voters, including a 100 percent rating for the year 2008.^[14]

Does anyone really believe this dumbass story?

http://justifiedtype.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/the-timely-shooting-of-an-arizona-deputy/

Attack of the Bantam Rooster

Checking on the sick chicken, attacked by the bantam rooster, blood drawn. War declared.

The Wine Glass, The Can Opener and The Cable Guy

Several years ago I was sitting in my Stinson Beach kitchen, chatting with Joe Mama, the Cable Guy.  Because it was after noon, and because I was chatting with the Cable Guy, I poured myself a glass of wine.  Several conspiracy theories later (you don’t want to know) I realized the glass was gone.  I traced my moving-around tracks in this small kitchen but that glass of wine was never seen again. A few days ago, in a kitchen far far away, I opened a jar of mole with a red can opener that has not been seen since. 

The existence of Bermuda Triangles in this world is not disputed – not the ship-eating type or the sock-eating type – so it is not even a stretch to figure that there is a universal small-household-object type.  Or even  personal, individual Bermuda Triangles, black holes which follow us around and from which our doppelgangers reach out on occasion to snatch away our stuff for whatever purpose.  Maybe they take them to some kind of doppelganger garage sale, or maybe they just like to watch us looking around furtively, on top of refrigerators, in laundry baskets, knowing that we look ridiculous.  Joe Mama would surely find a Knights Templar connection here (you don’t want to know).

Black Headed Grosbeaks

all over my usually-ignored bird feeders this morning. Yellow rumped (Audubon) warblers still abundant.

                 (photo filched from the Internets)
For my brother Kimball's Duarte Bird Walk, go here:
http://www.dctvduarte.com/program.php?id=23132

See No Apple

 Michael Moore Tweets: 

  

Who will be the 1st politician to give back Goldman’s tainted money? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?


Well my guess is nobody, no one, no way, no how.  After all John Paulson is A Bad Apple.  Just like that awful Lindy England.  And Rusty Calley – A Very Bad Apple.  Nothing to see here.

Riding in Trucks with Dogs

I like getting out of Dodge, not least because of the Scenic Route which stretches for hundreds of miles in any direction. Never mind that my brother’s truck is just far enough from the ground that I barely miss falling on my face each time I get out. Or on my ass getting in. The likelihood of either happening increases proportionately to the amount of spectators available and so I am especially careful in, say, the parking lot at Raley's as opposed to the Bark Park type stops. But I digress. So far, my trips out have been spaced months apart, which makes the changing of the seasons more striking -- as in All Of A Sudden there are buds and lillies; or All Of A Sudden, the trees were weighted down with snow. Now I'm sure Vermonters would give a smug shrug to Northern California's fall colors, but they sure work for me. In Marin, there were basically two seasons – “Look at how green everything is” and “Look at how brown everything is.” Aside from the occasional clump of Lillies of the Valley and the rare hardy daffodil, the natural flora and fauna remained pretty much the same all year. (Vegetable gardens of course are more needy.) Riding with my bro is not an exercise in efficient travel between a and b but instead involve scenic tours of, for example, Cave Junction, Hilt and pretty much every strip mall in Medford. Ok, that last I could have done without but what the hell. Throw in some parks and a dog-friendly restaurant.
So far, I have not had the pleasure of being barfed on by a Boston Terrier.

Dobranoc

Killed in the Polish air disaster was one of my heroines from the Solidarity movement -- Wanda Valetinowa, though the article had her first name as Anna and I don't really know how to spell her last name.  She was the crane operater in Gdansk whose firing sparked the movement.  Of course I just loved Lech Walesa who was quite the fox before he got old and fat. 

If I were a Polski, I don't think having Putin in charge of investigating the crash would make me feel all warm and fuzzy....

Justice Stevens to retire. I hope Obama doesn't get cute with this nomination.

What is Frum up to???

Biggest feet in U.S..

Availability is another issue.

HCR 2010- 2018. Maybe.

Via Reuters  3/22/2010 a good breakdown of HCR: 

WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF ENACTMENT

*Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.

*Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

*Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.

*Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.

*A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.

*Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.

*A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.

*A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2011

*Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.

*Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.

*A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor goes into effect in October that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.

*Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels. These payments are to be gradually reduced to bring them more in line with traditional Medicare.

*Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees' W-2 tax forms.

*An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies according to market share. The fee does not apply to companies with sales of $5 million or less.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2012

*Physician payment reforms are implemented in Medicare to enhance primary care services and encourage doctors to form "accountable care organizations" to improve quality and efficiency of care.

*An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.

*The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2013

*A national pilot program is established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.

*The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 percent from 7.5 percent of income. The threshold remains at 7.5 percent for the elderly through 2016.

*The Medicare payroll tax is raised to 2.35 percent from 1.45 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples with incomes over $250,000. The tax is imposed on some investment income for that income group.

*A 2.9 percent excise tax in imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2014

*State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.

*Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don't. Healthcare tax credits become available to help people with incomes up to 400 percent of poverty purchase coverage on the exchange.

*Health plans no longer can exclude people from coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

*Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren't counted for the fine.

*Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2015

*Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2018

*An excise tax on high cost employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions. (Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by David Alexander and Eric Beech)http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1914020220100319

I'm not responsible for errors.  How the hell would I know if there were any, huh?  --kg

Come back -- it's your birthday.

The Ring Tail Cat drops by

Ran into the woodpile.  Ran out of the woodpile.  Also hanging around the dump.  Hope I get to see one!

MSNBC this morning.  Todd talking to Brokaw. Switched to local.

Reprint - Benen via Daily Kos

March 7, 2010

UPDATING OUR POLITICAL DICTIONARIES.... Josh Marshall had a very short item the other day that I've been meaning to mention. He was helping readers understand the new political "lexicon."

"Jamming it through": to vote on a bill.

It got me thinking about how we should all update our understandings of political terms that had fairly straightforward definitions up until fairly recently.
"Obstructionism," for example, only refers to Democratic minorities opposing Republican proposals.
"Tyranny" is found when an elected Democratic majority passes legislation that Republicans don't like.
"Reconciliation" describes a Senate process that Republicans are allowed to use to overcome Democratic "obstructionism."
"Terrorism" refers to acts of political violence committed by people who aren't white guys.
"Bipartisanship" is found when Democrats agree to pass Republican legislation.
"Big government" describes a dangerous phenomenon to be avoided, except in cases relating to reproductive rights or gays.
"Treason" refers to Democrats criticizing a Republican administration during a war.
"Patriotism" refers to Republicans criticizing a Democratic administration during a war.
"Fiscal responsibility" is a national priority related to keeping our deficit in check, which only applies when Republicans are in the minority.
"Parliamentarian" is a seemingly independent official on the Hill who Senate Republicans are allowed to fire when the GOP disapproves of his/her rulings.
See how fun this is? Consider this an open thread for your own submissions.
—Steve Benen 2:40 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (63)

Dodd Redux

Pay attention to the excerpted paragraph -- which is what is happening.
I am reposting this from  2/4.   Link in that post has gone postal...
Cenk Uygur
Host of The Young Turk
Posted: February 2, 2010 11:12 How Bipartisanship Hurts the Country

Excerpt from end of his article:                                               

"The problem is selling out to corporate America in the guise of settling political differences. And here it comes again in financial reform. Here is what a staffer at Senator Dodd's office said recently according to the Financial Times (see correction below):

"Chris is retiring so he wants to end his career with an important regulatory reform bill and he wants to make the bill bipartisan. He is not going to risk bipartisan support to make the White House happy."

Translation:

"Chris is retiring and would like to get a high paying job on K Street, and hence, he will pretend to be bipartisan and reach convenient compromises with the Republicans in his committee to gut this bill and protect the corporate interests he will soon be serving."

And guess what, it turns out that compromises that Sen. Dodd (D) and Sen. Shelby (R) have been working on wind up reducing consumer protection, allowing the banks to take more risks and make more money at taxpayer expense. Who could have seen that coming? I guess that's another lucky break for corporate America! How can a small group of people keep getting so lucky?

Political bipartisanship is a fraud. It's meant to cover up bipartisan crime. The media and the Democrats aren't telling you the truth. The only thing they're compromising away is your interests. The people who sell out the most are the ones that are revered the most as centrists and moderates. It's all a sham. They're not centrists, they're corporatists. Don't believe the hype. Bipartisanship doesn't help you, it helps the lobbyists.

Correction: Senator Dodd's office reached out to me to say that the Financial Times quote was not an official statement from his office. That is true. I should have attributed it to a staffer as I have corrected now. Here is the statement from Kirstin Brost, the Communications Director in Dodd's office:

"Dodd strongly supports the Volcker rule. I don't know who Deal Reporter spoke to, but I speak for Chairman Dodd and Dodd is going to fight for the strongest bill he can get. He is giving the Volcker proposal careful consideration. We are having two major hearings this week with Chairman Volker and the Treasury Department to do just that."

I don't want people to misunderstand my correction. The only thing being corrected is the source of the quote. I do not believe the official statement from Dodd's office. Every report I have read indicates that they are not going to push strongly for the Volcker Rule. I hope they prove all those reports wrong, but I highly doubt it.

One more thing that should be noted, I had very high praise for the initial reform package that Senator Dodd introduced a couple of months ago. I explained on our show how it was stronger than the House or White House version and that it was a real reform package. Furthermore, I supported Chris Dodd in the 2008 presidential primaries over Barack Obama. So, I have absolutely nothing against Senator Dodd or his original proposal for reform. What I have a problem with is selling out that proposal to get a so-called bipartisan deal with the Republicans and to make corporate lobbyists happy, and in the process, making financial reform much, much weaker.

I will be the first one to give Senator Dodd tremendous credit if he does not do this and sticks to his original strong reform proposal. We'll be watching to see who was right after all."

Live streaming of HCR conference showing amount of contributions to speakers by major industries -- as they are speaking.

Hope they took their Do-Doz

Harry Reid speaking at the Health Summit.  Only Obama is pretending to be awake -- and he's faking it.

My newest addiction...

Also, perhaps the world's messiest food.
Recipe and Text from The Recovering Vegetarian
/http://therecoveringvegetarian.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/sriracha-lime-boiled-peanuts/


Sriracha-Lime Boiled Peanuts

• 1lb raw peanuts, in shells
• 8oz soy sauce
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup sriracha chili sauce (Feel free to increase this as much as you like)
• 1 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• handful of fresh cilantro leaves
• 2Tbsp rice vinegar

As far as recipes go, this one is pretty darn simple. Grab the biggest pot you’ve got on hand and toss in your peanuts. Fill with water, add all your other ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn it down to a gentle simmer. Keep an eye on your water level and periodically pop out a peanut, unshell and taste. Adjust the seasonings to suit your taste, enjoy the smell as you come to check on it. These are definitely the most fragrant peanuts I’ve ever made. You’ll know yours are done when the shells are pliable and the nuts inside are soft and flavorful. (Mine took about six hours?)
When they’re done, place a generous serving in a bowl and toss with red pepper flakes and another small handful of cilantro leaves. If you have any left over, some people drain theirs and store them in the refrigerator that way, I prefer to store them in some of the cooking liquid. They taste even better the next day that way!

Press the Meat

(email to Carol 2/14):
I didn't know that Rachel Maddow needed to be toned down.  I watched some of the show you referred to and frankly if I were her I would need to be toned down if I had to put up with these three right wing clowns on the show.  There was some congressman (R-IL?) who just mouthed a bunch of cliches,  David Brooks who does the same but with a "concerned" and "sincere" tone (for our own good, mind you) and that idiot Ford who sez he is a Dem (and sez he lives in NY) while being a total right winger who lives in Tenn for tax purposes --and still can't win an election.  It would be nice if Mr. Gregory asked questions that did not assume there was any legitimacy to this outrage over a civilian trial for KSM in NY rather than what it is -- a successfully orchestrated attack worthy of Rove-Cheney (hey -- it probably IS Rove-Cheney).  Even Bloomberg (Sp?) was fine with it until someone got to him.  (Schumer is a whore for Israel, so I won't even go there.  Although he does have some good qualities.)*  Rachel Maddow was very calm and -- fact based.  Yikes!  What a concept. Far more interesting was C Amanpour with Jane Mayer on her (C's) CNN show this morning in which she brought up the success of this backlash thing.  Mayer** said that Obama's team didn't immediately and/or effectively counter it and that part of this was that Rahm Emmanuel was not for civilian trials, party due to a deal he cut with Lindsay Graham, some quid pro quo thing.  

Sorry.  But I LIKE getting all worked up! -- kg

*OK, I know that sounds awful.  But I really think that pretty much all politicians are whores, it is just a matter of who they are whoring for and how pretty they are...

** "The Dark Side"   This book, along with Suskind's "One % Doctrine" contained a lot of information regarding interrogation techniques and the results before the MSM found itself unable to them ignore any longer. 

I guess I just need to remind myself that it is called "Meet the Press" -- not "Meet the Experts" or "Meet People Who Have Brains."  Although Cheney made appearances with Tim Russert (Cheney wouldn't go on the other shows back then).  So maybe Tim was the Press and Cheney was meeting him.  It is all so confusing!

I did catch Cheney on This Week with some guy named Karl doing the hosting.  I never heard of this Karl guy.  Have heard of Cheney, but thought he was in prison. 

From Ezra Klein -- WAPO

Primary sources

A reader got his hands on the note that Richard Shelby delivered to Harry Reid informing him of the blanket hold. You can read it here. Shocking stuff.

A pair of Canadian Honkers in the pasture this morning.

(These three were swimming online.  My old fashioned phone does not have a camera.)

Bipartisanship as cover for corporate giveaways....

How Bipartisanship Hurts the Country
by Cenk Uygur | February 3, 2010 - 12:16pm | permalink 

Excerpt:  

"Every one of these so-called compromises wound up helping corporate America. There was never a compromise that was against corporate interests and there never will be. You can use this as a measuring stick from now on. Whenever there is a bipartisan agreement in Congress from now on, look to see who benefits from it -- I guarantee you that ninety-nine out of one hundred times it will be corporate America.
And the Democrats are perfectly happy to do this because they take the same, if not more, amount of money from those same corporate lobbyists. Except they have the meddlesome problem of pretending to be for the people. Republicans are not burdened with this; everyone expects them to help the rich and the powerful. But the Democrats need cover, and they have the perfect excuse in the mantle of bipartisanship. What could they do, the Republicans made them do it! And aren't they so reasonable for compromising?"

Note the last paragraphs re: Chris Dodd and financial reform.

Howard Zinn

                                           August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010

Ok, I know I'm supposed to think this guy is a nut, but I sure agree with him on this one..

Ron Paul last weekend at a Libertarian conference:
"There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. ... And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. ... And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators ... We need to take out the CIA."

A Saturday Outing

If you think going to the movies from Stinson is an all day event, try it from Happy Camp.

 Saturday George, Casey & I went to Medford to see Avatar.  The noon show was sold out so we bought tickets for the 3:30 and repaired to the RoxyAnn winery for wine* tasting and cheese plate, then to Barnes and Noble. Barnes & Noble had a buy 2 get one free on paperbacks and I went away with a volume of Portrait of The Artist as an etc etc and The Dubliners in one volume; a collection of Emily Dickinson and a Willa Cather novel "My Antonia".  I've never read any Willa Cather so I considered that my free mystery book**.  And I have wanted the Joyce books.  Cool.   Great afternoon!  I liked Avatar, but did not love it.  WAAAY too long for a cliched and predictable plot.  But I loved the visuals and liked the way the 3-D was used to enhance rather than scream boo like the 3d movies we saw as kids. It is, as Casey's friend said, an "archetypical" story line (which amused my sister and me). You might want to see it as I don't think it is going to be worth so much on the small screen (you know, the one in your house).  Had a very nice dinner in Ashland.

* Our favorite was a Red Lily Tempranillo.  (The winery makes its own Tempranillo but it was sold out.  They didn't make very much.)  I'd never heard of this Spanish varietal have you?  

**But am now slogging my way through Claire Messud's "The Emperor's Children" --Have you read any of her novels?  I read an article (of hers) in the NY Review of Books on an Iranian woman activist who had been imprisoned; it was a good article.  But this book of fiction --I find her sentence structure exhausting -- precise (I think) , not convoluted, but certainly more complex than her (self absorbed rescue-seeking) characters deserve.

The Importance of Being Not-Bush

Among the Obama apologists, there are two (among other) pillars that are so not working for me at this point (if they ever did).  First is the he-did-not-really-promise-that argument, implying that what I see as failure to perform is really a matter of conflating his ideas with a conception that he might act upon any of them.  Closing Guantanamo, for example, was an idea; chiding him for not actually doing it is being naïve and – well – petulant. Since Obama did not actually say he would be a rabid crusader for Universal Health Care, it would be unfair to be disappointed that he (and his pit bull Rahm) instead orchestrated a giveaway to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.  He didn’t say he would do the former and he didn’t promise not to do the latter. 

Second – well, at least he isn’t Bush.  The technical argument to that should be that Not-Being- Bush is setting the bar so low that a snake could crawl over it.  Unfortunately, the argument is now more like  - in what way is he Not-Bush?

My apologies to residents of halfway houses.

I think the FBI does their recruiting out of halfway houses.

FBI’s ‘cutting edge’ photo of

 bin Laden doctored from Spain

 lawmaker’s portrait

I didn't know that was an option...

Have finally gotten around to reading Nick Paumgarten's piece on Whole Foods CEO John Mackey (The New Yorker, Jan. 4 2010) and found this particularly telling:

"Before his [Mackey's] senior year, he was cut from the varsity basketball team, and he persuaded his parents to move so that he could switch schools and play."  

Are atheists supposed to hope there really IS a hell?

I'm not much on joining up, but couldn't resist this one.


Dear God: If you really exist please tell Pat Robertson to SHUT THE F**K UP

I hope the US is as efficient at getting aid to Haiti as it has been about overthrowing their governments. Oh and by the way Obama — New Orleans still needs help. Comments like this probably make JC at Balloon Juice tar me “FDL.” That would be an honor, John.

Mortgage meltdown.  Financial Collapse.  As I recall, the Savings and Loan Scandal in the late '80s was called just that -- a scandal.  Prison terms were served.  Complicit lawmakers were investigated and exposed.  Were those the good old days, or are these?  Depends on whether you are the screwer or the screwee.

My new label is certainly coming in handy.

Foul/Fail

Watching Mark McGwire trying to 'splain himself and doing a Glenn Beck sobbing routine.  Guess I need a new label for my blog.