Special Session Alert: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reports that "After weeks of closed-door meetings, GOP legislative leaders are trying to rush through a package of budget bills so fast that adequate public notice and participation will be all but impossible." "On Tuesday, Republicans in the Senate voted to suspend the rules in order to allow … Read more

A doctor explains why the public plan works

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Dr. Patricia A Gabow, M.D., CEO of Denver Health, "an integrated public safety net health care system serving Denver," wrote this opinion for the Denver Post Public/private health debate (emphasis mine): America is immersed in an important discussion about how to reform our health care system. One proposed reform is the establishment … Read more

The Republican 10 Point Plan for Health Care

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: One of my favorite economics bloggers, Jon Perr at crooksandliars.com, has a detailed explanation of The Republican 10 Point Plan for Health Care; After Rep. Roy Blunt, leader of the supposed House GOP Health Care Solutions Group, suggested Thursday that Republicans won't offer a health care plan of their own, Minority Leader … Read more

Health Insurance Reform and The Economy

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Our health-care system today was created by accident during World War II. Because wages were frozen at the time, employers attracted workers with the lure of benefits such as health insurance. As a result, employer-based insurance became the foundation of the U.S. health-care system. This accident of history has become unsustainable. The … Read more

Krugman on Blue Dogs: An Incoherent Truth

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: (Copy of the official Blue Dog portrait, the original signed by members of the coalition). New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman tries to make sense of the Blue Dog's incoherent position on health insurance reform today in An Incoherent Truth: Right now the fate of health care … Read more