Once upon a time, Republicans could have original ideas, could differ from others in their party on substantive issues, and could come up with creative pragmatic solutions to problems. That was then. Now, it is required that all candidates adhere to the right wing dogma of the day. Policy has become religion, and one dare [...]

The NRA and their allies have so completely cowed our legislators and the public that the few desperate calls for serious gun control in the wake of the Tucson shootings have been barely audible in the partisan shouting match that followed. This, despite the obvious fact that a lunatic like Loughner should never have been [...]

End of life counseling is back as a political issue after the president decided to add it to Obamacare by executive fiat. If you remember, this was one of the things that led to Sarah Palin’s infamous “death panel” fiction that caused such a furor over the summer. What is proposed, in the real world, [...]

Even if Republicans take back both houses of Congress this year, they should not cheer too loudly. They were soundly repudiated just two short years ago (how soon we forget), as the Democrats will be this time around. What does this tell us? It tells me that Congress, ever more beholden to special interests and [...]

If I weren’t so angry about it, I’d be amused by the opponents of health care reform who just don’t get what it’s like for those Americans who either can’t afford or can’t get coverage. Many of you who have health insurance through an employer or are fortunate enough to be able to buy it [...]

I shouldn’t be any more, but I’m still surprised when people argue vehemently against their own self-interest. The health care debate has taken this disconnect to new levels. The states that seem to have the strongest polling against health care reform are those where people would be helped most by the reforms. The arguments I [...]

These days it’s hard to be more outrageous than the news. Given the increasingly hysterical attacks on the proposed health care reform, this piece, which I wrote a few weeks ago, may not be enough of an exaggeration to pass muster as satire. My fear is that the opposition will pick it up and run [...]

So, the public option, the very thing that makes health care reform doable, is evidently dead in the Senate, killed by Republicans who oppose any change in the status quo, and by timid Democrats who still operate as though they’re in the minority. How did we get to the place where the word “government” is [...]