The "Government Run" Myth

The claim that the House bill would amount to "government-run health care" suffered a blow last week, when the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the so-called "public plan" in the revised bill wouldn't offer much in the way of competition to private insurers.

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Smoking Bans Reduce the Risk of Heart Attacks Associated With Secondhand Smoke

Smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of heart attacks and heart disease associated with exposure to secondhand smoke, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

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Premature Births Are Fueling Higher Rates of Infant Mortality in U.S., Report Says

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Stewart annihilates Fox News' purported opinion-news division: "It's a perpetual revulsion machine"

Jon Stewart examines Fox "News" Claims of a clear division between news and opinion, and finds it lacking to say the least.

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The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to risks for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease; therefore, a compelling case can be made for the need for reduced consumption of these beverages.

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Texas Governor Stops Hearing of Forensic Science Commision Into Execution

Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman and two members of the state's Forensic Science Commission, two days before the commission was to hear evidence that Texas executed an innocent man.

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Ring Wing Blogger Jon Henke vs. Right Wing World News Daily

The dispute involves Henke pointing out the problems with WNDs claims

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Fear Mongering Abounds in Critics of Health Reform

Many prominent objections to reform involve fear mongering.

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How big is $9 trillion?

There's been some hysteria about the administration's new estimate that the cumulative deficit will be $9 trillion over the next decade. Don't get me wrong: this is bad. But it's being treated as an inconceivable sum, far beyond anything that could possibly be handled.

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Health Care 'Death Panels' a Myth

"Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, called this 'downright evil,' and asserted the elderly would have to stand in front of a 'death panel so [President Obama's] bureaucrats can decide ... whether they are worthy of health care.'

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Those Who Cannot Win A Debate Try To Shut The Debate Down

When one side of a debate considers open, honest discussion to be the enemy, it says quite a bit about the integrity of their argument.

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"Who's going vote for torture?"

It's almost comical. Bush created a torture policy; Obama ended the torture policy. So, naturally, Limbaugh tells his audience that Obama supporters "voted for torture."

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Palin Throws Alaska Under the Bus

There's no doubt that Alaska's state government has been paralyzed since Palin's return, with anger and frustration emanating from both the governor's office and the state legislature. All of Palin's major bills failed to pass this year's first 90-day session.

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Inspector General: Excessive Secrecy Undermined National Security Efforts

A report by inspectors general from five intelligence agencies said the administration's tight control over who learned of the program also contributed to flawed legal arguments that nearly prompted mass resignations in the Justice Department five years ago.

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The Isolationism of Health Reform: Why won't Congress consider how other countries do it?

The political establishment's hubristic refusal to consider how other countries manage health care is encapsulated in the cliché "uniquely American," which is what Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the lead legislator on health care reform, says he wishes his bill to be.

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Coburn Claims "VA Is Not Up to the Level of Health Care of the Rest of the Country," Ignoring Clear Evidence of Its Quality

On CSPAN this morning, Senator Tom Coburn made the case against a government-run insurance plan on the strange grounds that a government-run health care delivery system would be ineffective.

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In reversal, GOP balks at war funding

House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops.

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The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care.

McAllen has another distinction, too: it is one of the most expensive health-care markets in the country. Only Miami—which has much higher labor and living costs—spends more per person on health care.

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This Time, We Won't Scare on Healthcare

Rick Scott, a former hospital company chief executive, leads a group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights. He was forced to resign as C.E.O.

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Conservative Misinformation University

"You lied. You misled. You twisted the truth beyond recognition. Together, you may not have learned much, but you certainly sounded convincing to the unsuspecting ear. And that's what really matters right? History, science, economics, pre-med, pre-law...

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Justices Tell Elected Judges Not to Rule on Major Backers

In a closely watched case involving the confluence of justice, politics and money, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Constitution can require an elected judge to step aside in a particular case based on campaign spending in state judicial races.

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Liberty University Shuts Down Campus Democratic Party Club

Liberty University will no longer recognize its campus Democratic Party club [allegedly] because its parent organization stands against the conservative Christian school's moral principles.

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Why Republicans Make Sore Losers

As a Democrat and longtime resident of Washington, D.C., I've always found the capital more congenial when my party was out of power. Partly that's because I make my living as a journalist.

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Pelosi: C.I.A. Misled Congress Over Waterboarding

Ms. Pelosi said that at the sole briefing she attended as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee in September 2002, the only mention of waterboarding by C.I.A. officials was that while it was deemed to be legal, the technique was not being used. Ms.

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Whoops! Lindsey Graham Cites Retracted Report As Proof Torture Worked

Hmm, not a great moment.

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