CIA OIG's Wild Parsing about What Was "Depicted" on the Torture Tapes
Back in January 2008, the CIA's OIG claimed it did not launch its investigation into torture in response to an allegation of wrongdoing. But that's not what the IG Report itself said.
Trash Talk - Spooks And Jukes Edition
Hi there Wheelies and Lugnuts, we have reached the end of another weekend. So now the fun starts! Marcy and I kind of have a lot of the same interests, that is how I came to be here. Today she wrote about the Ambinder Atlantic article on top spooks caterwauling about the lame ass to start with Holder "preliminary review" on the beyond the criminal guidelines, set out by even
Poppy Bush Not Joining Other DCIs Opposing Investigation of W Bush's Torture
Seven DCIs request that Obama interfere in the workings of DOJ to stop the torture investigation. Interestingly, Poppy Bush is not among them.
Al Punto Versus Fox News Sunday
It appears that Obama is appearing on Univision's Sunday show, Al Punto, instead of Fox News Sunday not just because Latinos are a more important demographic than white racists, but because Al Punto is actually a more successful Sunday show.
MaxTax's Medicare Reforms: Would They Really Reform Health Care?
The MaxTax is largely a Medicare bill attached to 39 pages of private health care reform. To show you what I mean by that, here's roughly how many pages MaxTax spends on each topic:
Health care exchange and other means to make private care available to the uninsured: 39 pages (including several on preventing tax dollars from being spent on undocumented workers or abortions)
Extending access to the poor and underserved (including expanding
Dog Day Afternoon: The Militarization Of American Police
The reason I objected so strenuously is that there is a long growing problem in this country with the militarization of, and militancy by, police officers. Courtesy of an opinion piece in the Washington Post we have a pwerful reminder of what this means for citizens.
Pay2Play Ceci: "The Most Influential Players" Love MaxTax
Ceci Connolly says her Pay2Play pals in the health care industry love Max's bill.
CBO on Co-Ops
Ezra has posted the CBO's initial estimates on the costs of MaxTax--some of the assumptions for which seem to pretend that insurance companies will not react in any way to the new rules imposed by MaxTax.
But before I get into what CBO's assumptions, here's what CBO thinks of Baucus' crappy co-op option.
(The proposed co-ops had very little effect on the estimates of total enrollment in the exchanges or federal costs because,
The REAL Worst Policy in the Bill
Ezra continues to claim that the worst employer incentive in MaxTax is the way it fines employers for not covering employees.
Max Baucus's bill retains the noxious "free rider" provision on employers. Rather than a simple employer mandate that forces every employer over a certain size to provide health-care insurance or pay a small fee, the free rider approach penalizes employers $400 for hiring low-income workers who are eligible for subsidies.
Affordable for Individuals Versus Affordable for Wal-Mart Employees
Here's a scary part of MaxTax, if I understand it correctly. MaxTax still screws employees but rewards Wal-Mart as I've laid out in this post and this post. In addition, though, MaxTax imposes much higher standards for affordability on employees who have access to health care through an employer.
MaxTax: Working Thread
Fatster found Max Baucus' health care plan here. Use this thread to post what you find.
I'm about 1/10 of the way through. My favorite detail so far is that the Health Exchanges would take your MaxTax--your mandated payment to shitty insurance companies--as a payroll deduction.
For employed individuals who purchase health insurance through a state exchange, the premium payments would be made through payroll deductions.
WaPo Happy, Two: Lalalalalala! I Can't Hear You!
Marcus Brauchli says there are too many readers complaining about the newspaper getting in the way of his attempts to ignore readers as he guts the paper.
Dennis Blair's Not Going to Touch Bush's "Inaccuracies"
Dennis Blair didn't want to touch the "inaccurate" filings submitted under Bush.
Jonathan Fredman on Approvals
Jonathan Fredman told Gitmo officers he would show them one of the documents used to get DOJ approval.
We Can't Afford the MaxTax
The Senate is talking about something I talked about last week: how unaffordable the MaxTax is for the middle class.
The Sexing-Up Sickness
A British PR flack is trying to claim disability because lying gave him PTSD.
Happy Weymouth, Happy WaPo
The WaPo denies it killed one particular story because it wasn't happy enough. But it appears to confirm that it is killing stories, in general, if they're not happy enough.
Haynes' Multiple Choice Memos
Jim Haynes appears to have followed precisely the same method that Addington did when trying to avoid answering questions about the Bybee Two memo.
Bybee: No Written Advice Provided to Any Agency Prior to August 1, 2002
Did Jay Bybee not know about the John Yoo letter where he told John Rizzo how to game the torture statute?
Depression Economy
It's appropriate that Glenn Beck is being hosted by a state Chamber of Commerce from a state that is basically in a depression.