David, You will be missed. I find your analysis as deep and careful as anyone out there, including the major progressive outlets and the mainstream press.

Obama is the worst negotiator I’ve ever witnessed. You have to show the other side that you’re ready to walk away. He never does that.

Going over the fiscal cliff would be much better politically for the DEmocrats. They can blame the GOP for demanding severe cuts in Social Security and Medicare to keep the super wealthy from having to pay Clinton-era taxes.

Then in January come back with a better Congress.

Also, Obama should have never caved on Rice, not until after forcing a fight. He’s seen as a pushover by the GOP.

What we need here is the ghost of LBJ to put some spine in the Whitehouse team.

Just let the damned Bush tax cuts expire. And say that the GOP was holding Medicare, and 65 and 66 year old’s health care (and many people’s lives) hostage.

Revisit after the new Congress comes in.

Sacrificing Medicare for 65 – 66 year olds, plus any higher costs to seniors for health care, is going to destroy the election prospects of Democrats in 2014. People are going to be hopping mad, because despite all the pundit talk about fiscal cliff, most people are going to be shocked to see that it is all about cutting Medicare.

You’d think Obama would have learned from past history over Tea Party response to Medicare “savings” in the ACA bill. And, yes, “death panels”. Now we’re facing a “death” compromise, pushing the old and the poor and many lower middle class off the fiscal cliff to save the wealthy. Ugh.

Bowles would be enough to get me to vote for Romney. In fact, I’d rather see Geithner stay on.

Wonder if the three third party presidential candidates could arrange a debate of their own. Surely in this era of live-streaming and Internet journalism it is feasible, and it would reach thousands of people who want an alternative.

Maybe it could be done with Democracy Now as a partner/participant.

One difference, at least in our family situation, you can refinance your mortgage to take advantage of lowered interest rates. You can’t refinance student debt. So my kid is paying off a 10,000 loan at 6.8%, while we are paying off a mortgage at 4% (refinanced down from around 6.8% last year).

I do know people (in their 40s) who were paying off HUGE student loans (acquired in graduate school) at extremely high interest rates — say $100,000 at nearly 9%. Their wealthy parents just lent them the money to pay that off, and they are repaying the parents at about 4%.

This debt overhang is hitting a huge swath of the middle and lower middle class. It’s no wonder the economy is struggling.

We need to federalize Medicaid.

60 Billion would pay for a lot of medical care, or teachers’ salaries.

Personally, I’d love to see the Bush tax cuts disappear completely. We were in much better shape in the Clinton years, and we were running, or on the verge, of running a surplus. How much better to have full employment, infrastructure repair, than endless tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires.

Massive theft with total impunity. Holder should be forced to resign. His record at DOJ is dismal.

The same criminal conspiracy that owns our government and the leadership of both political parties.

So depressing. I really want Obama to give me a reason to vote FOR him, not just against Romney. So far this is what I have:

Supreme Court — nominees would be worse with Romney
Social Security — Romney will gut it faster than the Democrats will
Gay rights — Romney is worse, Obama said the states should decide
Military/Surveillance/Afghanistan/Iraq — The two are equally bad
Banksters/Financiers — Romney is a disaster, Obama is only craven
Tax fairness — Romney slightly worse than Obama
Unions — Meh
Education — Both absolutely dreadful, for kids, teachers, school systems

Welcome back, David. You have been missed.

The audio of the proceedings were disheartening and disillusioning even to disillusioned old me.

Sadly true. This is a thought I ponder almost daily. Did the country I thought I knew ever really exist?

I agree. Her comment is a good summary of where we are now, politically speaking.

I’m following the arguments with interest. Armando (Big Tent Democrat) has a good run down of the law on the Daily Kos site, as does bmaz at Emptywheel.

On a personal note, I really hope the Supreme Court supports the act. Not that I love the insurance companies, but I hate to see so many without any health insurance at all. With the subsidies, and the expansion of Medicaid, a greater number will have access to health care. And preventative health is required to have no copays. There will be more regulation of the insurance industry.

In MA, the law has helped most people afford insurance. It’s not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I don’t see any scenario where something like Medicare for all is enacted if this goes down, short of a massive backlash against the right wing and a total collapse of the Republican party.

After over 20 years of participating in thought-provoking and revealing conversations on race, I have gotten to the point where I think we need:

1. Civil rights movement 2.0 (3.0 or 4.0)
2. A much more proactive federal Justice Department
3. A campaign to educate people, government officials, and police in nonviolence, and appropriate policing of nonviolent demonstrations
4. State and local activism against racial profiling and stereotyping

Occupy Wall Street has already started #4. Department of Justice under Obama has been missing in action.

I’m not really sure how much good conversation does. If it is sincerely engaged in by small groups, it can enlighten and change individuals. But institutional racism is exceedingly difficult for even extremely well-meaning and brave individuals to change from within.

The Trayvon Martin case evokes lynchings that were prevalent from emancipation well into the 20th century.

Recent GOP extremist language (anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-liberal) as well as race-coded language that one hears both in political campaigns and on the nightly news have created a dangerous climate.

The Blunt amendment sponsorship will hurt him with independents, especially with low-information voters who are not following politics closely. A lot of voters do not really know about his stand on contraception yet.

The fragmentation is the second greatest problem, after lack of access to health care & insurance.

If I were emperor, I would combine all the various programs into one Medicare single-payer system, supported by progressive Medicare/Social Security tax (with no cap on high earners).

Medicare for all. No mandate, just make it available on a sliding scale for everyone who wants to buy in.