Opponents of the public option, both from the Right and from Village "progressive" wonks, have spent months trying to denigrate the potential of a public option to reform health care and insurance. Yesterday, Jeralyn linked to one of the latest of such articles. Only 2% (6 million souls)will use the public option they (and the CBO) say. Why fight for it they ask? It's the "rest of the bill" that matters. This is nonsense. Let me present 3 arguments why this is so.

The first, and to me the most telling, why is it the insurance industry and anti-reformers have drawn their line in the sand on the public option? Why are they not fighting against the "rest of the bill?" Why do they have no problem with the magic "exchange?" Or they "no denial for preexisting conditions" provision? Simply put, they know that these "regulations" are toothless and will do nothing to hurt them. They know that the public option is the threat to their profits.

Second, the Village "progressive" wonkers do not give a honest appraisal of the potential for the public option. They ignore the history of Medicaid, which began covering 4 million people and that covered, by 2004, 47 million people. The fact that eligibility for inclusion in the potential public option pool is likely to grow (indeed, the House bill contemplates such an expansion by as early as 2015) is completely ignored by Village progressive wonks, because of their belief in magic "exchanges" and "regulation." The fact that both have been proven to NOT work and that only public insurance programs have proved to be effective cost containers and providers of affordable insurance are inconvenient facts for the Village wonks. More . .

Brett Favre returns to Lambeau today. The game is garnering a bit of attention. The Vikings lost a game they should have won last week. They beat the Pack in Minnesota earlier in the season. I think they are the better team. I like Favres (+3).

Philly and New York play a double header today. The Giants meet the Eagles at 1. And the Yankees play the Phillies tonight. In the football game, I like the Giants (-1). More . . .

It's the one night of the year we get to turn back time. Hope you make the most of your extra hour.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Who's staying home and turning out the lights, refusing to answer the door? Who's going trick or treating or to a costume party? [More...]

The Center for Constitutional Rights announced that six of the Uighur detainees at Guanatanamo arrived at their new temporary home in the Pacific island of Palau today (no link yet, received by e-mail). The CCR represents three of the six men:

Ahmad Tourson, Adel Noori, and Abdulghappar Abdulrahman arrived to freedom in Palau today, following nearly eight years of unjust and unlawful imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The men, who are ethnic Uighurs from far-western China, were being held in Guantánamo despite having been cleared for release by the U.S. government years ago. Palau has generously and courageously agreed to provide a temporary home for the three men while the United States continues to search for a country where they can be permanently resettled.

[More...]

The Associated Press reports that number crunching shows that only 2% of Americans under age 65 will receive health insurance under the public option proposed in the House bill.

The Democratic health care bills would extend coverage to the uninsured by providing government help with premiums and prohibiting insurers from excluding people in poor health or charging them more. But to keep from piling more on the federal deficit, most of the uninsured will have to wait until 2013 for help. Even then, many will have to pay a significant share of their own health care costs.

[More...]

Another idiotic policy by fear-mongerers: requiring sex offenders to post "No Candy Here" signs. Others: requiring sex offenders to attend counseling sessions on Halloween evening, ordering them not to answer the door and keep the lights turned off.

A Georgia lawmakers hopes his state will join several others – including Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, and Louisiana – and dozens of cities, towns, and counties across the US that now order registered sex offenders to put out a "NO CANDY HERE" sign. It's a gambit to warn trick or treaters against possible molesters. But it also raises constitutional and societal questions over identifying America's more than 500,000 registered sex offenders by where they live.

There's no evidence sex offenders pose a threat on Halloween: [More...]

The ACLU has rreceived and posted new torture documents obtained in its FOIA lawsuit. What's in them? Thanks to CBS Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen for doing the heavy lifting, via Twitter:

• US interrogation team sought explicit permission to question Saddam Hussein without reading him Miranda rights.

• Judge" Alberto Gonzales complicit in torture tactics

• The rationale behind military's treatment of Saddam Hussein upon capture

• Saddam Hussein interrogation document memo

More below:

Earlier this week I was on a call with Senator Arlen Specter. My questions for him focused on the Supreme Court and antitrust law.

I asked Senator Specter about his long expressed concern about the Supreme Court's disdain for Congressional fact finding. In response, Specter noted that Supreme court nominees Roberts and Alito were less than forthright regarding their approach to Congressional fact finding. He noted that while Chief Justice Roberts expressed an attitude of respect and "modesty" on the subject when a nominee for the Court, his behavior as Chief Justice, as expressed particularly regarding the extension of the Voting Rights Act, was exactly the opposite. Roberts is a judicial activist, and though Specter did not use those words, that was the essence of his comments.

I asked Senator Specter if, given the activist role the Court has played in antitrust law, if it were not time for the Congress to revisit our existing antitrust laws. Specter agreed with my observation and stated he would consider acting on it. More . .

A lot of big games on the slate today. I will avoid the Halloween trick or treat cliches in my review and picks.

In Autzen, the Oregon Ducks host USC. Since the debacle in Boise, Oregon has won 6 straight in impressive fashion. USC has not been as impressive this season. USC is a 3 point favorite, a line that does not reflect the respective performances of the two teams and the Autzen home field advantage. I like the Ducks (+3).

Oklahoma State has a history of blowing big leads against Texas. The Cowboys host the Longhorns today in T. Boone Pickens Stadium. Texas is a 9.5 point favorite. Des Bryant is ineligible and headed for the NFL. I like Oklahoma State (+9.5). Texas' offense has not been as explosive this year. More . . .

Summit County, Colorado is home to several Colorado ski towns, including Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne and Dillon. Some of its land is not in any town, thus it has control over "unincorporated areas" of the county.

Breckenridge voters will vote Tuesday on whether to remove all criminal penalties for adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. A few years ago, voters passed a resolution mandating that medical marijuana enforcement be the lowest police priority.

Last week, Silverthorne joined Frisco and Breckenridge (pdf) in enacting regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries (pdf). Breckenridge has even posted the required forms online. Dillon is expected to do the same. [More...]