Tort Reform Did Not Reduce Health Care Costs

The data is in, tort reform doesn't work in Texas.  And I doubt it will work anywhere else.  Another pet Republican theory bites the dust.  When are Americans going to get fed up with their crap?

George Washington's individual mandates

In order to strike down the insurance mandate, the Supreme Court would
have to go against the founders of the Constitution. Several of them
supported and enacted individual mandates both under the commerce clause
and without the commerce clause. Mandates were not unconstitutional to them.

North Carolina Senate Does Comedy

North Carolina state Senate takes a page from a Stephen Colbert comedy bit.  Sadly, they are quite serious about it.  This, of course, makes their state a joke.  You can't stop climate change by passing laws.

THE Story of This Election

This is the complete Republican election strategy.  They continue to sabotage Obama's efforts at job creation, and blame him for the damage.  That's it!  Nothing else.  Spread the word.

Private Student Loan Debt

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights how private student debt is a severe drag on the young generation.

Mitch McConnell Argues Against More Donor Disclosure

If you obsess about people actually finding out what you are doing, perhaps, just perhaps you feel some shame about doing it.  If you don't want people to know what political causes you support, maybe you should stop.

Reversing The Stanford Prison Experiment

Where else but Canada?  The RCMP has found that rewarding good behavior works better than punishing bad behavior.  What would it be like to live in a country of which a person could be proud?

General Mills Declares War on Bigotry

In this right-wing screed, the marriage fascists are all up in arms because General Mills shows some guts by treating homosexuals like equal human beings. I wish these guys would go find some other country to ruin.

We Don't Need No Education

Another Krugman piece. Actually, it’s kind of ironic. While Republicans love to engage in Europe-bashing, they’re actually the ones who want us to emulate European-style austerity and experience a European-style depression.

5 Myths

All 5 myths continue to be perpetrated by the right.  Mythology has become their stock in trade.  Reality doesn't seem to matter much to them at all.  We can't afford to have a country run by wild-eyed, true believers.  Future generations deserve better than that.  Read about something more workable than the Volcker Rule, the Hoenig Rule.

It's time -- after five years, it's well past time -- for us to stop pointing fingers at one another, and to fix the excesses that almost sank us. The market sure didn't work very well. The government regulation solutions, like the Volcker Rule and Dodd-Frank "resolution rules," aren't going to work very well. We need common sense, like the Hoenig Rule, and markets (as opposed to a zillion regulators) that can enforce discipline on institutions that will not be too big to be allowed to fail.

The Solution

The right is a one-trick pony.  And that trick isn't working.  In times like this, government can be the solution.

Let’s turn Ronald Reagan’s declaration on its head: Opposition to government isn’t the solution. Opposition to government was and remains the problem. It is past time that we affirm government’s ability to heal the economy, and its responsibility for doing so.

Kinect in orbit

With Kinect cameras, small Lego-like satellites could assemble themselves after launch into large space structures.  That would be cool.

Fracking Regulation

It would be much better for the industry if we had reasonable regulation on fracking than none at all.  With no regulations, many jurisdictions will be forced to ban it altogether.

Why Are We Collecting Taxes?

When the inflation rate is higher than the interest rate, it makes sense for the government to sell more T-bonds at the current incredibly-low interest rate and redeem them with inflated money later.  It's better than free financing, it makes money.

Furthermore, it makes the case that now would be a good time for borrowing to increase dramatically until the interest rates begin to creep up.  We could use the money to invest in things like infrastructure and strategic projects that prepare the ground for a prosperous future.