Category: law
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How to Lie with the Truth — and how to counter it
A meme spreading like wildfire throughout the rabid right is that “47% of Americans don’t even pay federal income tax.” Clearly it’s time for another tax cut for the uber-wealthy in the interest of “fairness”. David Leonhardt wrote a piece in today’s New York Times exploring this. Short version: The number is true… and meaningless. …
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16,500 : a “mistake” so egregious as to be a lie
Where did the rabid right get the figure of 16,500 new “IRS agents” that (they claim) will be required to enforce the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act? They made it up. Really. It came from nowhere. In fact, the IRS will add few or no agents, and perhaps hardly any staff at all. …
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Health care reform passes
So, against all expectation, the Democratic Party managed to hang together and finally pass the comprehensive health care bill. As a lifelong Democrat, I am flabbergasted. I was certain they’d find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and fumble on the proverbial one-yard line. I’m glad to be disappointed, but this…
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The rising threat to music of the home taping phenomenon
This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3jkUhG68wY&feature=player_embedded) is a hilarious take-down of the music publishing industry’s allegation that personal filesharing is “killing” music. Part of the fun is figuring out the early 1980s references. Also, I would totally buy a flag that had that cassette-and-crossbones logo… Also, remember that according to former MPAA chief Jack Valenti, [T]he VCR is…
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David Brooks is disingenuous, delusional, or an idiot
Today, David Brooks had a column on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. It’s pretty much a standard Brooks piece, bemoaning the lack of civility in Washington today. It is wrong on its facts and wrong on its interpretations and laughably wrong on its understanding of politics. Ezra Klein takes it down analytically.…
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Reconciliation, in 90 seconds or less.
This video gives an explanation of the process of reconciliation vis a vis the health care bill. It’s brief, lucid, and informative. Needless to say, it won’t get airplay or attention. *sigh*
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Our (Even More) Broken Senate
News comes that Senator Richard Shelby has placed a blanket hold on Obama administration appointments, apparently as part of a plan to extort pork for his state. With Scott Brown having been seated, the chance of cloture on these holds seems remote. So the Senate is even more broken. The danger is that this will…
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A well-deserved smack-down on trials of terrorists
Adam Serwer at TAPPED has a nice response to Richard Cohen’s latest hyperventilating bed-wetting over the upcoming trial of several terrorists. I’m disappointed that NYC has successfully lobbied to have the trials held elsewhere, though I’m glad that the main reason seems to be that the extra security would be overly disruptive to city life…
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Another Democrat making sense
So why isn’t any of the so-called leadership — in the Capitol or in the Oval Office — listening? On the Huffington Post, Paul Begala offers his own, lucid take on the choice facing Democrats: Pass the Senate bill, or collapse completely come November. It’s worth the time to read. Now, here’s hoping the Democrats…
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What the heck is reconciliation?
(a) The rite in the Catholic Church formerly known as penace. (b) A process whereby congressional resolutions are harmonized with the budget. Under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, it provides a procedure to consider (certain types of) bills without allowing a fillibuster in the Senate. As such it’s suddenly become the hot topic legislatively. …