CREW announced the settlement today of its long-standing lawsuit over years of missing e-mails of the Bush Administration. The settlement agreement is here (pdf.)

Documents produced so far show the Bush White House was lying when officials claimed no emails were ever missing. The record now proves incontrovertibly that Bush administration officials deliberately ignored the problem and, in fact, knowingly allowed it to worsen. Some questions remain unanswered.

The AP reports 22 million e-mails have been recovered so far. [More...]

What should be the goal of a health bill this year? As Ezra Klein argues - to save lives. Getting people health insurance does that. Accordingly, the goal for a reconciliation bill should be to offer as much health insurance assistance as possible. There are 3 main components to the current proposal that does this. They are: (1) expansion of Medicaid eligibility; (2)expand Medicare eligibility to persons aged between 55-64 (exclusive of those who would not be eligible for the Exchange) and (3) subsidies for persons not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare to purchase private insurance. To do these things, tax increases on the wealthy have been proposed. Each of these provisions, including the revenue raisers, would not run afoul of the Byrd Rule, which requires that all provisions enacted under reconciliation be budget germane and budget neutral.

What do you risk? [More...]

In important news, Friday I will be publishing my comprehensive college football bowl preview, complete with picks against the spread (as of December 18) in all 34 games. This will be my last chance to get my season record above the .600 mark against the spread for the season. I think I need to go 23-11 or something like that. I've done it before. And I will do it again.

This is an Open Thread.

On September 9, 2009, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), supported Medicare buy in for persons aged 55-64:

The Last Honest Man has been a bald faced liar forever.

Speaking for me only

"Anonymous sources!":

The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), which would mean eliminating the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations. But Reid is described as so frustrated with Lieberman that he is not ready to sacrifice a key element of the health care bill, and first wants to see the Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the Medicare buy-in. The analysis is expected early this week.

I think what Reid is REALLY saying is 'you cut the deal with him. Out in the open. So everyone knows who to blame. I have a tough election next year. You don't. I saw what you did to Dodd. You ain't doing it to me.' At least, if I was Reid, that is what I would be saying.

Speaking for me only

Obama's self grade:

Here's how he answered when Oprah asked him to grade himself:

Obama: Good solid B-plus. I think that we have inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Frankiln Delano Roosevelt. We stabilized the economy, prevented the possibilities of a great depression, or a significant financial meltdown. The economy is growing again, we are on our way out of Iraq, I think we've got the best possible plan for Afghanistan, we have reset our image around the world, we have achieved an international consensus around the need for Iran and North Korea to disable their nuclear weapons, and I think that we're gonna pass the most significant piece of social legislation since social security and that's health insurance for every American.

Oprah: So B-plus--what could you have done better?

Obama: Well, B-plus because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed. If I get health care passed, we tip into A-minus.

Allrighty then.

From "Change You Can Believe In" to "Grow Up", from the "smarter elements in Washington, D.C.":

[I]t’s also worth sparing a few words for the potentially demoralized voters who are considering staying home. To wit: Grow up. [. . .]

There's a winning message. My message to the Village Blogs: Contempt for the electorate is not a winning strategy.

Speaking for me only

Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith were released from Guantanamo in 2004. They sued for torture and religious discrimination. Their case was dismissed. Today, the Supreme Court denied cert.

The Obama administration opposed high court review of the case, adhering to its practice of defending Bush administration officials against allegations from one-time suspected terrorists or Taliban allies.

The defendants in the case included top Bush military officials such as former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The D.C. Court of Appeals decision, which will now stand, is here. [More...]

TPMDC:

The drumbeat started early in the process - no matter what the final health care bill looks like when it reaches President Obama's desk, it will do more for Americans than ever before. [. . .] Leadership and the White House want a bill, and the message machine will be cranking up into high gear to push the historic nature of the legislation's basics.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs [. . .] - and Peter Orszag, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, and on - tell reporters and voters to "keep in mind" that once the legislation is passed more than 30 million people who never had health care will have it [. . .]

What they DO NOT say - that the 30 million people getting insurance do not get it because of the Mandate, or the Exchange, or the Excise Tax. What they do not seem to get is that they will NEVER get 60 votes in the Senate for their "health care reform." Strip down the bill for reconciliation and we can insure 30 million Americans. Stick to selling the capitulation - and Obama and his Village Blogger pom pom waving cheerleaders will end up with nothing.

Speaking for me only

Ezra Klein unwittingly provides the argument for reconciliation on a health insurance premium assistance bill (predictably, Steve Benen jumps aboard the anti-reconciliation train):

I could imagine a cost-benefit analysis that judges the whole bill worth it, or the whole bill not worth it. But it is very, very hard to imagine a cost-benefit analysis in which small policies operating on the margins and promising to save small-but-measurable amounts of money are worth more, in either direction, than the hundreds of thousands of people who will be saved -- not to mention spared bankruptcy, and lifted from chronic pain or impairment -- by the rest of the bill. The areas of controversy have become very slight given the magnitude of the underlying bill.

(Emphasis supplied.) Ezra believes he is making an argument for capitulation to the Gang of "whatever the number is today." In fact, that Gang will never agree to a health bill. Ezra is right - no Exchange, no "regulation," no excise tax, no "small-but-measurable" saving is worth blocking the parts of the bill that will provide less well off people with health insurance paid for by wealthy people. That's why reconciliation must be employed. To save lives. It's the only way.

Speaking for me only

I lost my last regular season game of my fantasy football league, and thereby avoided playing the toughest team in the first round of the playoffs. Did I "throw" the game? Hard to say. I played an unorthodox lineup but all were point scorers. In fact, some of the changes added to my total.

I think the fantasy gods should not seek retribution against me.

This is an Open Thread.

WaPo:

President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Senate to pass by the end of next week legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system [. . .] "I think it's going to pass out of the Senate before Christmas (December 25)," Obama, who has made healthcare reform legislation his top domestic priority, said in an interview aired on CBS's "60 Minutes."

I guess Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln and Olympia Snowe will be putting the finishing touches on their bill in time to meet Obama's deadline. That will be fun to watch.

Speaking for me only