[Wisc Sen] Ron Johnson writes Op-Ed in the Onion

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Thursday October 28, 2010 · 8:34 AM PDT

2010/10/28 · 08:34

I looked but was surprised not to find a diary on this.

The Onion apparently gave space to Ron Johnson to tell us all about his views of the world -- and why he ought to be elected. Highlights:

But most importantly, Russ Feingold is a career politician who knows exactly where to find our nation's capital on a map.
Me? I don't have the slightest idea. If somebody asked me right now where Washington, D.C. is, I would say north, but that's really just a shot in the dark. I am literally clueless.

freelunch

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Tuesday August 17, 2010 · 4:04 PM PDT

2010/08/17 · 16:04

Ten years ago, the GOP would never have stood for the attacks on a congregation trying to build a new house of worship. Both houses passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act unanimously and a slightly different bill that the House had passed earlier in the 106th Congress had 199 Republicans voting for and only 20 voting against the bill.

So, as loudly as the Republicans and craven Democrats rant about the community center that includes a mosque that will be near where the World Trade Center towers used to be, it's important to remind them that they supported the law that stops New York from doing anything special to keep this mosque from being built.

Poll

36 votes Show Results

What most motivates the opposition to the center?

36 votes Vote Now!

What most motivates the opposition to the center?

Ignorance about the First Amendment

0 votes

Ignorance about wide number of sects in Islam

0 votes

Political Pandering

10 votes

Intentional desire to undermine religious freedom

1 vote

Misguided willingness ignore harm done to others (Martin NiemÃ¶ller excuse)

1 vote

Red, White and Blue Bigotry

16 votes

Parochial outlook

2 votes

Other

6 votes

Folkbum running against Paul Ryan

freelunch

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Thursday April 01, 2010 · 8:24 AM PDT

2010/04/01 · 08:24

I'm pretty sure this isn't an April Fool's joke, but since our long-time community member folkbum (Jay Bullock) hasn't announced it here, I'm not totally certain that he is really running against Paul Ryan.

freelunch

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Wednesday March 31, 2010 · 9:12 AM PDT

2010/03/31 · 09:12

Professor Greg Mankiw of Harvard is generally conservative, but hasn't gained a reputation of being totally foolish, so I have to assume that his blog entry today was accidentally posted a day early.

The biggest problem with any analysis of taxation is that it is useless if the analysis doesn't also include avoided costs. It is further trivialized if there is no meaningful comparison. Mankiw decided to go with both:

freelunch

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Saturday March 27, 2010 · 9:31 AM PDT

2010/03/27 · 09:31

The AP has a nice article by Ricardo Alanso-Zaldivar today about how a key portion of the health funding reform package was a GOP idea:

Republicans were for President Barack Obama's requirement that Americans get health insurance before they were against it.

The obligation in the new health care law is a Republican idea that's been around at least two decades. It was once trumpeted as an alternative to Bill and Hillary Clinton's failed health care overhaul in the 1990s. These days, Republicans call it government overreach.

Mitt Romney, weighing another run for the GOP presidential nomination, signed such a requirement into law at the state level as Massachusetts governor in 2006. At the time, Romney defended it as "a personal responsibility principle" and Massachusetts' newest GOP senator, Scott Brown, backed it. Romney now says Obama's plan is a federal takeover that bears little resemblance to what he did as governor and should be repealed.

As you can see the GOP would rather not be reminded of its 180 on this part of the change. The Party of No, indeed.

freelunch

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Saturday March 20, 2010 · 6:36 AM PDT

2010/03/20 · 06:36

Is there a reason that the US Conference of Bishops seems to be bureaucratic and more concerned about themselves and their perks than about the folks who are in the pews? Maybe they are just reflecting the tone on the top. Pope Benedict's pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland was released today. I found it very disappointing.

freelunch

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Tuesday March 16, 2010 · 5:23 AM PDT

2010/03/16 · 05:23

The LA Times is reporting that Anthem Blue Cross lost its jury trial concerning its unwillingness to pay for an out of state transplant. Not only did the jury say that Anthem breached its contract but also acted in bad faith:

Blue Cross approved Nehme's liver transplant in late 2006, and he was on the waiting list at UCLA Medical Center. But the company refused to pay when Nehme, gravely ill and fearing for his life, decided to have the operation in Indiana, where wait times are far shorter than in California.

freelunch

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Sunday March 14, 2010 · 10:26 AM PDT

2010/03/14 · 10:26

The New York Times has an article about the inevitability of expanding cost controls in health care. The core of the discussion is this:

For all of managed care’s problems, national bankruptcy would be considerably worse, and that’s where we’re heading if we don’t rein in health costs. We are already experiencing some preliminary symptoms. In addition to the financial burden of Medicare and Medicaid, rising insurance premiums in employer-provided plans are absorbing a large share of what might otherwise be wage increases. That makes us poorer and keeps us from buying safer cars, eating healthier food and investing as productively as we can. Health gains that accompany prosperity are largely invisible, so we tend to neglect them.

Poll

28 votes Show Results

Would you trust your primary care physician to decide on the specialists you go to?

28 votes Vote Now!

Would you trust your primary care physician to decide on the specialists you go to?

Yes, always

5 votes

Yes, but I'd like some say

12 votes

No, he doesn't have the time to do it right

0 votes

No, he doesn't know the specialists well enough

1 vote

No, he'll just pick the cheap ones the insurer demands

0 votes

No, I like picking specialists myself

3 votes

No, I live to go to the doctor

0 votes

No, never

4 votes

Not sure, never thought about it

3 votes

Regulating Banks a Better Way

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Saturday March 06, 2010 · 6:15 AM PST

2010/03/06 · 06:15

The New York Times has an article in today's paper about the fight over how to protect consumers while keeping banks from failing. Sadly, the whole argument seems to be in a vacuum of ignorance. Does it really matter if the regulators are in one agency or two?

States already have models of how it can be done and how effective different organizational plans can work in their insurance and banking regulatory programs. No one in Washington seems to be paying attention.

freelunch

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Saturday February 27, 2010 · 7:29 PM PST

2010/02/27 · 19:29

The people who claim to advocate medical tort reform don't seem to understand what it entails. Aside from a half-dozen sociopaths, I'm not aware of anyone who is saying that doctors and hospitals should not be held to any standard of professional care and accountability. The overwhelming cost of dealing with medical malpractice arises because there is malpractice. Not all of the cost of malpractice is recovered from doctors. Many patients are suffering today because of medical malpractice and they got nothing for it. Malpractice and the subsequent expense of malpractice will not disappear unless doctors start to clean up their act.