Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  54 Story Final.

1 Shocked golf world, sponsors ponder life without Tiger

AFP

Sun Dec 13, 6:17 am ET

Shocked, shocked I tell you.

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  54 Story Final.

1 Golf world reels as Woods takes ‘indefinite break’

by Greg Heakes, AFP

49 mins ago

I hope all of you have been following  the developments on Firedog Lake, especially on the FDL Action Page and FDL News Desk (dday).

I’ve been trying to find a way to summarize the posts, a quote or two that conveys the enormity of the sellout we’re experiencing, but I’m at a loss and perhaps you can help.

Drug Reimportation

Harry Reid, Crook for PhRMA, Tries To Kill Drug Reimportation

By: Jane Hamsher Thursday December 10, 2009 7:21 pm

Reid, White House Trying To Bury Reimportation Amendment

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 6:00 am

Basically, the deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry didn’t allow for any circumstance that would save consumers $106 billion over ten years by being able to purchase cheaper drugs. Some liberals have objected on the grounds that Republicans are making bad-faith arguments about the value of a single negotiator, but as a means to block drug customers from tens of billions in savings annually, it’s a weak argument. And it’s especially weak when the only reason it’s being held up, despite massive support, is that the White House doesn’t want to take a big bite out of Big PhRMa.

My emphasis.

Loophole Adds Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage For High-Cost Illnesses In Senate Bill

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 8:18 am

Why would this cap on treatments of cancer and other illnesses be instituted? The answer could lie in biologics. Under the current health care bills, drugmakers would be allowed to keep their exclusivity on expensive biologic drugs for at least twelve years and perhaps permanently, thanks to the evergreening clause. These are drugs that cost as much as $80,000 a year annually, and without the prospect of low-cost generic versions, that number will only increase. These drugs offer the hope of treatment for crippling diseases, but the cost is prohibitive to individuals. By preserving the drugmaker’s ability to charge that price, the insurance companies may not want to be stuck with the bill. So a cap on annual spending for the kinds of diseases these drugs treat would pass the costs on to the patient.

Obama and Reid’s War Against Bringing Down Americans’ Health Care Costs

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 8:51 am

What is sickening is that Obama campaigned on this rather small, common sense cost controlling idea. Yet Obama traded away drug re-importation to PhRMA in a sweetheart deal. He also traded away direct drug price negotiation in the same deal. Obama and Reid have clearly taken the side of protecting corporate profits instead of bringing down health care costs for regular Americans. I shutter to think of all the other good cost control ideas Obama and Reid were able to more quietly kill as part of some secret industry deal that we still don’t know about. Next time they send Peter Orzsag to pimp all the awesome “bending the cost curve” ideas in the bill, the appropriate response from reporters is to laugh in his face. For the past few days, Obama and Reid have rather publicly fought against bringing down America’s health care costs.

Dorgan Does Right Thing, Holds Up Senate Health Care Debate Until He Gets Reimportation Vote

By: David Dayen Friday December 11, 2009 1:16 pm

The big story here is not that the White House wants to crush Byron Dorgan’s reimportation amendment and hold up their deal with Big PhRMa – that’s been clear for a while. The big news is that Dorgan’s fighting back:

It’s NOT Medicare

I Can Believe It’s Not Medicare: Get Ready For Fake Medicare Buy-In

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 7:01 am

This change would result in this fake Medicare program having much higher premiums and a smaller provider network. It would also result in greater administrative overhead. This fake Medicare would lack almost all the benefits of Medicare. A Medicare buy-in program that does not actually allow people to fully buy into real Medicare is a farce. Beware: it looks like we are about to get fake Medicare for Christmas.

Benefit Caps

Harry Reid Slips Lifetime Limit Into Senate Bill

By: Jane Hamsher Friday December 11, 2009 8:34 am

Reid, who is solely responsible for crafting the bill that he introduced in the Senate, decided that there should be a limit on lifetime benefits. So when people get sick and have huge bills for things like biologic drugs that cost $50,000 or $100,000 a year, whose bills could become “unreasonable” because Congress is granting drug manufacturers “indefinite monopolies” (per Henry Waxman) that prevent generics from coming to market to compete with them, Harry Reid thinks they should eventually be cut off:

So Much For Health Care Consumer Protection: Reid Guts Ban On Annual Limits

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 9:30 am

For all those apologists who say we should absolutely pass a health care bill, even without a public option, because it still “has so many great consumer protections,” I have a rude awakening for you. The AP is reporting that Harry Reid quietly gutted one of the most important consumer protections in the bill, the ban on annual limits:

HHS Knew About Reid’s "Annual Limit"

By: Jane Hamsher Friday December 11, 2009 12:23 pm

Funny that nobody thought to tell the public.  How many more of these things do we not know about?

You’re Right, Harry Reid, Fake Insurance Is Much "Cheaper" Than Real Insurance

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 1:13 pm

The reason Reid dropped the annual limit from the Senate bill was to make his bill appear cheaper in the CBO score, and make insurance premiums appear lower.

No ‘Cost Savings’ in “Compromise”

CMS: Excise Tax On Insurance Will Make Your Insurance Coverage Worse And Cause Almost No Reduction In NHE

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 12:31 pm

The new excise tax on employer-provided health insurance will result in most people getting worse health insurance from their employer, insurance that covers less. That is just not my conclusion, it is the conclusion of the CMS.

Highlights Of CMS Analysis Of Senate’s Bill

By: Jon Walker Friday December 11, 2009 3:47 pm

So my summary is this-

Harry Reid, with Barack Obama’s at least tacit complicity, has decided to turn “Health Care Reform” into “Insurance Industry/PhARMA Welfare”.

You will be mandated by the Government to pay at least 20% of your annual income for Health Care because of expensive, crappy insurance that doesn’t cover anything and artificially inflated medical costs.

And it won’t save the taxpayers a dime.

Not to mention taking away a Woman’s Right to Choose.

This is worse than nothing.  Thanks Democrats.

No Public Option, No Mandate.

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World an U.S. News.  50 Story Final.

1 Grave robbers steal Cyprus ex-president’s body

by Charlie Charalambous, AFP

2 hrs 17 mins ago

So says John Aravosis.

Think it could have anything to do with this?

Don’t Be Shocked When The Democratic Base Does Not Turn Out In 2010.

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  47 Story Final.

1 Europe to promise billions in climate battle aid

by Richard Ingham, AFP

1 hr 26 mins ago

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  62 Story Final.

1 Police illegally execute hundreds in Nigeria: Amnesty

by Aderogba Obisesan, AFP

Wed Dec 9, 10:25 am ET

Wednesday Morning Science Supplement is an Open Thread

35 Story Final.

1 Developing nations furious over Danish climate text

AFP

1 hr 49 mins ago

As usual, Glenn’s sharp eye has picked up on what a lot of people here have noticed too.

My friend the president

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com

Tuesday, Dec 8, 2009 10:09 PST

Over the past couple of days, Andrew Sullivan has linked to and published protests from various individuals who are quite angry that people “on the left” are being so mean to President Obama, and several of them are so upset that they have decided they are “leaving the left,” whatever that might mean.  What’s most striking about these valiant defenses of Obama is how utterly devoid they are of any substantive points and how, instead, suffuse with weird, even inappropriate, emotional attachments they are.  These objections are grounded almost exclusively in (a) a deep-seated conviction that President Obama is a good and just man who means well; (b) their own rather intense upset at seeing him criticized; and (c) a spitting ad hominem fury of the type long directed by Bush followers at any critics of their leader, and generally typical of authoritarian attacks on out-groups critics.

…

After watching slack-jawed for a few minutes, I quickly realized that there was nothing unusual at all about their reaction to Palin.  This was exactly what led so many Bush followers to defend him no matter what he did — as he tortured and invaded without cause and chronically broke the law.  He was, like most of them, a “good Christian” who had a nice family and meant well, and thus, while he might err, he was not capable of any truly bad or evil acts.  Anyone who criticized him too harshly or too viciously was, by definition, revealing something flawed about themselves.  None of the specific arguments mattered.  None of it had to do with reason.  Like Palin’s admirers, Bush’s were convinced of the core goodness of his character, and they thus loved him and hated those who suggested that there was something deeply wrong in what he was doing.

The similarity between that mentality and the one driving the Obama defenses posted by Sullivan is too self-evident to require any elaboration.  Those who venerated Bush because he was a morally upright and strong evangelical-warrior-family man and revere Palin as a common-sense Christian hockey mom see Obama as an inspiring, kind, sophisticated, soothing and mature intellectual.  These are personality types bolstered with sophisticated marketing techniques, not policies, governing approaches or ideologies.  But for those looking for some emotional attachment to a leader, rather than policies they believe are right, personality attachments are far more important.  They’re also far more potent.  Loyalty grounded in admiration for character will inspire support regardless of policy, and will produce and sustain the fantasy that this is not a mere politician, but a person of deep importance to one’s life who — like a loved one or close friend or religious leader — must be protected and defended at all costs.

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  50 Story Final.

1 127 killed in spate of Baghdad blasts

by Ammar Karim and Prashant Rao, AFP

1 hr 24 mins ago

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  60 Story Final.

1 Historic climate conference opens to dire warnings

by Richard Ingham and Marlowe Hood, AFP

Mon Dec 7, 2:31 pm ET