Thursday, January 28, 2010

Public Option: It's ALIVE!!! No, wait, It's Dead. No, It's ALIVE!!!!

Well, two Progressive action groups are claiming a victory (such as it is) in the free-for-all that's become health care reform.  Per Firedoglake and Bold Progress, most of the Hosue Progressive Caucus is standing by their guns and signing a letter being circulated by Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) that calls for passing the public option through budget "reconciliation," (which only needs 51 votes in the Senate.)

As for the SOTU speech last night - it wasn't as bad as I expected.  Left me more hopeful than not.  Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell - - that's fantastic, but feels like we're being thrown a bone.  There were aspects I didn't care for - offshore drilling and nuclear energy? Yuck and eh, respectively..... I'd rather focus on less controversial sources of energy.  But I guess those are bones for the Republicans.  So in the end, everybody gets a bone.  Yay for Bipartisanship!!!!

Sure it's great to mention equal rights for Afghan women but what exactly is being done about that?  The war is making it worse, according to them, replacing the Taliban in many places and positions of power with criminal warlords from the Northern Alliance

Snip: "many of the farmers we spoke to said that the (Afghan) government had forced them to stop growing opium but had done nothing to help them repay the debts to the drug lords they still owed crops too...He said he had been forced to pay ( a portion of) his debts to drug lords by marrying his five daughters to them... "they told me I should pay with my daughters if I had nothing else!"   The farmer told us he still owes 12,000 dollars and he has no idea how to repay them.   "I can’t do anything now, I have run out of daughters."

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