Administration economists have adopted anti-empirical macro-economic theories, whose principal benefit appears to be that they favor and protect the wealthy (in a political environment where money is speech, that is a big benefit). These ideas aren’t just wrong and destructive, and aren’t just ideological instead of scientific, as applied in a campaign, they deprive the American public of a democratic (small d) choice about their future. I am delighted that Firestone sees that.

It has been more than a decade since I have received routine media coverage, so my take on this is a little out of date. But, it is worth noting that reporters have been routinely coming to their stories with a preset narrative forever. That preset narrative may come from their editors and publishers (particularly where the story has political legs), or it may come from the informal information system controlled by people like Drudge, PR firms, etc. The point is, that “news” direction hasn’t been factually set for at least my working lifetime (which is a very long time). It really is true that no more than half of what you read, and the vast majority of what you see on TV, is simply untrue.

That 30% counts only what the insurance companies take. To accurately assess their total cost, it is necessary to add the additional burdens they bring – complex rules require significant resources to file claims, track those claims, appeal those claims, etc. Additionally, some value should be assigned all the damage insurance companies do. Estimates of some 40,000 excess deaths are commonly assigned to lack of insurance; there is surely a significant additional population whose lives are substantially damaged or ended by denial of coverage for those who thought they were insured. I do not know what that amounts to, but when I talk about all this with my siblings who are doctors, their estimate of the actual cost of using insurance companies as gatekeepers is in the neighborhood 50% more or less of total health care expenditures.

This isn’t that hard to understand. Arpaio’s performance is under investigation by the Department of Justice. The report charges serious misconduct up to and including possible criminal acts. I suspect that the Sheriff knows that Holder’s DOJ has refused to prosecute people who can, in some way, threaten the President politically. So, when the Sheriff does his best to threaten the President politically, it is not a long leap to conclude that he is seeking the same sort of justice that has been afforded the banksters.

Reading the post, my first question was whether or not the “affair” fell within the bounds of sexual harassment? I can imagine any number of reasons why the victim of harassment might be shielded, especially as you note the biggest penalties usually fall to the victim, not the harasser. I spent decades in public service, most of it at a senior level. I can therefore claim expertise in the matter of politicians’ private lives, far more than I would have preferred. If you cleared out every philandering politician, the municipal, state, and federal elected officials’ offices would be almost empty. That goes for both sexes. I think that the reasons for this deserve far more study than they get. My theory is that politicians get into that business for the power their offices confer (occasionally for the social aspects of the office). Once in office, they quickly discover they are special, laws and rules apply differently to them. Most politicians are far less interested in the particular policies they enact. Sex is simply one of the ways that drive for power is expressed. By the way, retaliation for saying “No” is common, again for both sexes. All this is a significant problem.

A power broker and a Senator might be equals, or she might be his boss, or he might even be effectively hers. The difference matters. If he wanted to press some action in court, he would be forced to come forward. Absent that, the resignation is noteworthy, but we ought to wait to see the unfolding spectacle before deciding what it all means.

I just drove across New Hampshire, from Conway to Keene, and along the way I got a look at the number and distribution of political signs. There were lots of Romney signs, and quite a few Perry signs. A few Santorum’s and some Paul signs were along the roads too. Not one Newt sign – not one. Now maybe he can get a local organization going in the next few weeks, but it is hard to imagine how that is going to work among primary voters. New Hampshire voters are famous for insisting on retail politics, and there too, Newt is simply not competitive. In short, Newt says he is running, but he is all mouth and no footwork.

The images are just right, but I read this as I watch the morning talking heads with various Republicans metaphorically spraying pain and toxins on all of us, and John Kerry talking about how Democrats might still contribute to this shameful process. He is proud of the “pain” he has put on the table (that is his word). Goddam!

I suspect that the Masters of the Universe that are driving this crisis would be a bit more cautious if they thought they would be allowed to fail. In the meantime, we are left to wonder how long the looting will be allowed to go on this time before the taxpayers find out that the joke is on them.

I am watching Chris Hayes as I type this. He is reviving the Sunday morning talk show format. I wonder how long it will take for the larger networks to notice? As for his contents: Gary Johnson should be applauded for his courage and intellect. I may not agree with him on any number of issues, but it is a shame that he doesn’t get to put himself and those ideas he is expressing on the national stage in any way that would allow them to compete in our two party, corporatist captured, system. Who knows, he may be right that the loony far right fringe is not the majority even in the Republican Party. Wouldn’t that be a surprising and pleasing discovery?

I am sure the right wing cabal is surprised, not by how dumb Perry is, but at how that stupidity is so obvious in this segment of the campaign. You can expect two things to come from this, the GOP campaigns will change to make people like Perry and Bachmann less obviously stupid, and the GOP will recruit less obviously dumb puppets.

It all comes down to the Benjamin’s and, of course, the “dancin’ an little sidestep, now you see me now you don’t.”

Remember why the NY Times sent it financial reporter to visit the Occupy Wall Street protesters – a banker thought that maybe this is the leading edge of the revolution. I think that the Wall Street parasites fully expect their behavior to lead to violence, and they expect that their wealth will protect them from its consequences if they can get the timing right. WIth elites like that, the sooner politics by means outside our closed political system start, the better.