Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani openly questioned the validity of the elections today and this is the result… (h/t: Daily Dish)

No major gaffes in her testimony, so the Republicans really don’t have much choice at this point. Sure, they may not agree with her politics, but they have to save their strength for bigger fights. From Wash Post: Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor won virtual assurance of rapid confirmation yesterday when Senate Republicans announced that [...]

But Palin is still close behind??? Not only that, Palin has the most favorable numbers among Republicans and Republican leaning Independents… Genuinely, I don’t get Republican’s fascination with Palin. Especially after her implosion a couple weeks ago, which was before this poll was conducted. Long story short, the GOP better hope she doesn’t run. Because [...]

“We’ve got to say to our children, yes, if you’re African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. That’s not a reason to get bad grades. That’s [...]

Yes, the very same actors…but this time they might actually help get health reform passed. Also, from the sound of the script, it appears as if they’re putting more pressure on Republicans to pass this than Dems… As Louise and her “husband” — actually Harry Johnson — sat around the kitchen table, they pounded the [...]

Previously the American Medical Association came out strong against any sort of public plan, but then Obama talked to them and now they seem to be falling in line. Now, I’m under no illusions that Obama swayed them to the point that they’re going against their own best interests, but something happened in the last [...]

I do not pretend to understand the minute details of the health care overhaul bill that the Senate has been working on for the last few weeks, but the latest news on it is disconcerting to say the least. From my understanding, the main selling points of this legislation was that it would cover more [...]

Since I was out last week, I didn’t get a chance to weigh-in on the political hot-button story of the week (month?): Governor Sarah Palin’s seemingly inexplicable resignation from office. Whilst sitting on the sand, soaking up the sun and sipping my Sam Adam’s Summer Ale (how’s that for some alliteration for you?), I had [...]

“Folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable. It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially. We’re going to go [...]

“To those who say that our economic decisions ‘have not produced jobs, have not produced and simply have not worked’ I say, take a look around. I say, ‘Don’t let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to its results. Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on [...]

As we continue to have conversations about reforming the way we cover our health care expenses, especially huge, end of life costs, the following story about euthanasia seems very topical. More at True/Slant.

If you’ve got stock in any company that sells long distance service I would seriously recommend that you sell it immediately. It may take a while to get around that people can get unlimited calls to anywhere in the U.S. for free from your home phone, but this baby is sure to catch on fast. [...]

Back when I first heard that Barack Obama had selected Joe Biden as his running mate, I wondered, “How’s that dynamic going to work out?” The Joe Biden I knew was a senior senator who liked his Amtrak commutes, his role on the foreign relations committee and his independence. But then Obama appeared on “Meet [...]

I’ve been talking about this for a while now, and it’s encouraging to see some dead trees taking up the story. Basically, the unemployment figures that get reported are known as U3, which are simply the number of people who are applying for unemployment insurance. And that’s not a good gauge because a lot of [...]

This is just the Senate Health Committee’s bill, and there will be more to follow. Still, if you want to take a glance… More here.

The big story here is that the House put forward a single bill from three separate committees with competing interests. That’s significant since this was one of the biggest problems in 1994…each committee put forward their own bills and chaos ensued. Also, the estimates says it’ll eventually cover 97% of folks who aren’t covered already, [...]

In my last post I detailed some of the roadblocks that have kept the Democratic leadership in Washington from finding a way to pass a major health care reform bill with a public option. They’ve whittled the cost of the bill down a few hundred billion dollars by negotiating concessions from drug companies and hospitals, [...]

The Obama administration has managed to collect some concessions from hospital groups and drug companies, to the tune of over $200 billion in savings over ten years. This is nothing to sneeze at, but it still leaves the lion’s share of the proposed legislation searching for funding. Setting a requirement for employers to pay a [...]

Sanford I have fewer problems with not resigning, although I think he should save South Carolina the embarrassment. His attention is clearly divided at this point and he let down the voters by abandoning his post. But Ensign fired his mistress’ husband from his staff and then continued to pursue her after the fact. Not [...]

Thanks to Justin and company for welcoming me on here as a regular contributor. I will be posting on a number of issues, but one area you can expect that I will regularly be tracking is technology related developments and how they interact with the political world and policy. I also live less than ten [...]