Giuliani: Without tort reform, health care can only save money by ‘pulling the plug on grandma.’

Thinkprogress.org

Last month, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s ridiculous claims about “death panels” in health care reform, saying that “whether they will do that or not I don’t know. … People assume these death panels will be created.” On NBC’s Meet The Press today, Giuliani continued to give credence to the idea, saying that because Democratic health care reform proposals don’t include medical malpractice reform or “interstate purchase of insurance,” it became “impossible for most Republicans to figure out how you’re going to save the money other than pulling the plug on grandma.”

Giuliani regularly claims that President Obama never put medical malpractice reform “on the table,” but as ThinkProgress has previously noted, this is simply not true. In May, Time reported that Obama told Republicans that he was willing to negotiate on curbing malpractice awards, but the Republicans were unwilling to make a deal.

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Tantrum Politics
By Madeleine Begun Kane

If reform can’t be fought using facts,
Simply give civil discourse the ax.
Block discussion with mobs
Packed with morons like Dobbs.
That’s the path of Republican hacks.

The Lockerbie bomber scandal: Gordon Brown has sold Britain’s reputation for thirty pieces of silver
By Nile Gardiner

Yesterday's Sunday papers are filled with new revelations surrounding the complicity of Gordon Brown’s administration in the decision to release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. The Sunday Telegraph reveals that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) gave Libya a “sweetener” of ₤146,000 in aid for “reforms” in its prison system while talks were taking place between London and Tripoli over Megrahi’s fate, as well as British investment in Libya’s oil sector.

The Sunday Telegraph also reports that British officials even negotiated with Mousa Kousa, a “terror mastermind” accused of planning the Lockerbie bombing, over Megrahi’s release. Meanwhile, The Sunday Times has revealed how Brown “personally vetoed an attempt to force Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to compensate IRA bomb victims because it might have jeopardised British oil deals with Libya.”

All this follows Justice Secretary Jack Straw’s admission last week to The Daily Telegraph that trade and oil deals with Libya were central to his decision to include Megrahi in any prison transfer deal with Libya.

There is now no doubt that the appalling release of a mass murdering terrorist was intricately linked to advancing broader British ties with the brutal regime of Colonel Gaddafi – almost certainly with the aim of securing lucrative oil contracts for British companies. This all makes a mockery of Gordon Brown’s blatantly false declaration in a Downing Street press conference that his government played no role whatsoever in the release of Megrahi. In Brown’s words:

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Greenville News Editorial: Sanford not proving he can lead

With each passing week, it becomes more in doubt that Gov. Mark Sanford can focus on the duties of his office and provide the leadership required during these tough times. The governor has refused to resign after revelations of his long-distance affair, his decision to flee the state for almost a week without staying in contact with his office, and some plane trips that have raised serious ethical questions.

Sanford has said that despite his personal problems — that also include his wife packing her things and moving back to the Charleston area with the couple’s four boys — he could serve the remaining 16 months of his second term and fulfill his responsibilities.

So far, more than two months after Sanford’s return from his secret meeting with his Argentine lover, there are no persuasive signs that he’s capable of leading this state that so desperately needs solid, forward-thinking leadership. He’s spent time apologizing profusely for his personal behavior, and lately he’s gone on the offensive against other elected officials who are questioning his travel expenditures. And in what can be described as a time-consuming diversionary tactic, he’s now asked the state’s three research universities for their records on public and private travel.

This is not the way to lead. This is a way to drag this state into another months-long controversy that does nothing to bring new jobs here and help state residents pull themselves out of some extraordinarily tough economic times.

S.C. Chamber of Commerce President Otis Rawl called the 2009 legislative session “probably the most nonproductive session we’ve seen in Columbia in a long time.” How true. In speaking to Lowcountry business leaders, Rawl urged the Legislature to move quickly on the calls that are growing to hold hearings to consider impeaching Sanford, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. “From a business perspective, we just can’t stand another unproductive session, especially with our unemployment as high as it is,” he was quoted as saying.

More than just dealing with $1.3 billion in state budget cuts kept the Legislature from accomplishing much this past session. Lawmakers also fought a brutal battle with Sanford over whether the state would get its full share of federal stimulus money. Sanford enthusiastically waged that unnecessary war.

This state’s unemployment rate is nearing 12 percent. The state budget will be cut an additional $200 million because revenue continues to fall. That means another average cut of about 4 percent for state agencies, colleges and local schools.

Those declining state revenues signal more than pain for government institutions. This is a sign that too many people continue to draw no paychecks or smaller ones, many companies still aren’t seeing healthy bottom lines, and consumers aren’t spending and thus aren’t nurturing an economic recovery.

Serious questions have been raised about some of Gov. Sanford’s travel on state aircraft and commercial flights, and lawmakers are right to insist on a thorough and timely investigation. But South Carolina cannot afford to be paralyzed for another year by this governor who now seems to be fighting only for his reputation.

Cheney and Torture--the Democrats' Gift that Keeps Giving

Exclusive: Grassley Attends Secret Miami Fundraiser And Touts Opposition To Obama Health Care Plan

Thinkprogress.org

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein reported recently that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is up for reelection in 2010, sent a fundraising letter asking donors to give him money to help him “defeat ‘Obama-care.’” Grassley is currently locked in negotiations with a small group of Senate Finance Committee members, reportedly working on a possible bipartisan health care proposal.

As we previously reported, ThinkProgress attended a closed-door health care town hall forum in Hialeah, FL, this past Tuesday, where Sens. Mel Martinez (R-FL), John McCain (R-AZ), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) discussed their opposition to Obama’s health reform plan. After the event, the three senators took a trip across town to the ritzy Biltmore hotel in Miami where they attended a fundraising reception sponsored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

ThinkProgress attended the closed-door reception. Upon arriving at the venue, we were surprised to see a conference room that was marked as a fundraising reception room for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley was not listed on the official invitation. Minutes later, Grassley arrived, where he joined his fellow colleagues McConnell and McCain. In his remarks, Grassley told the wealthy Republican activists that he was committed to fighting Obama’s health care plan.

ThinkProgress tried repeatedly to contact Grassley’s office for comment, but they refused to get back to us.

The Main stream Media has to stop calling Torture, enhanced Interrogations...It's Torture, just because Dick Cheney, Fox News and the rest of the right wing spin machine call Torture, enhanced Interrogation does not mean that you are suppose to follow their misleading LIES!!!

Grow a pair and stop trying to be "Infotainment" like Fox and go back to being the News. Things are screwed up enough with your duplicity ...

Yoda's World

Translating Sarah
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The media’s mean, so I quit:
(That’s the message that Palin has writ.)
And you don’t need a title
To do something vital.
I’m betting she runs against Mitt.

US Senators Tied to Religious Cult...

The powerful and secretive group known as the Fellowship Foundation or the “Family” is quickly gaining notoriety, due to its links to two scandal-plagued Republicans, Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

According to the Washington Post, however, the Fellowship Foundation is itself linked to an even more secretive religious organization — Youth With a Mission (YWAM), whose Washington, DC branch owns the “C Street House” where Ensign has lived and where Sanford has participated in Bible study.

A diarist at Daily Kos points out that “YWAM founder leader Loren Cunningham has publicly outlined a vision for Christian world-control,” which involves establishing domination over government, education, business, the media, and other areas.

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