They're Still Milking It

Haven't we learned our lesson? Why are we still ignoring this?

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You Got A Better Idea?

Finally. Some spunk. I like it:

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) warned Americans that "Republicans want you to die quickly" during an after-hours House floor speech Tuesday night.

His remarks, which drew angry and immediate calls for an apology from Republicans, were highlighted by a sign reading "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."

Veteran Tennessee Republican Jimmy Duncan abandoned customary reticence to chastise Grayson. "That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Duncan said. "It's fully appropriate that the gentleman return to the floor and apologize," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican.

But none was forthcoming from Grayson — a freshman Democrat from a competitive district — who said the first part of the GOP approach to health care is: Don't get sick. "If you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly," he said.

Well, it's either that or beg, as Republican House Minority Whip Eric Cantor recently told a constituent with cancer who had no insurance.

Here's the full video:



The fact is he's right. The Republicans have not offered a plan. They know that there are tens of millions of Americans without health insurance and millions more who are underinsured. They know that 45,000 Americans die every year because of lack of health coverage. They know that premiums have risen 131% over the last 10 years. They know that U.S. businesses cannot remain globally competitive when health care spending consumes 17% of our economy (versus 10% for France, which the World Health Organization rated the best health care system in the world; we're #37, by the way). They know all these things. They just don't care.

Apologize for that? Hell no.

Swoon

Truth be told, I'm a big Apple fan, especially the iPhone. I have successfully converted many of those around me. Imagine my delight when I heard about this:



No, that's not a big iPhone. It's a tablet computer! The "iTablet" will feature a 10-inch touchscreen, and both Wi-Fi and 3G data. The rumored cost is between $500-$700.

Via the tech site, Gizmodo:

Two people related to the NYTimes have separately told me that in June, paper was approached by Apple to talk about putting the paper on a "new device." The R&D labs have long worked on versions of the paper meant to be navigated without a keyboard or mouse, showing up on Windows tablets and on multiple formats using Adobe Air.

A person close to a VP in textbook publishing mentioned to me in July that McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks to iTunes.

The big question is when will it be available? According to a number of sources, it will launch in early 2010 (possibly February). Needless to say, I'm starting to save my pennies!

The Return of McCarthyism?

Scary parallels.


Find more videos like this on DramaTube

The Death of Common Sense

Man, if Republicans weren't so good at politics and Fox News weren't the #1 news channel on cable, I'd laugh this kind of stuff off. But these guys are fucking relentless. Obama is brainwashing your kids!? They will stop at nothing to tear Obama down.

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Insurance Companies 1, American People 0

As I mentioned last week, the Senate Finance Committee, which is currently working on one of the health care reform bills (often called the Baucus bill, after the committee chairman), held a long debate on amendments which would add a public health insurance option to the bill. I'm disappointed to report that these amendments failed 10-13 (3 Dems voted with the Republicans).

That's right. Even though all the Republicans on the committee voted against the public option amendments, it was the Democrats who killed it. Someone needs to show these "scum-sucking, insurance industry-loving weasels" (as the Daily Kos has appropriately labeled them) that their constituents support the public option:

Put into words: although the Senate Finance Committee defeated the public option, nearly 6 million more Americans voted for the 10 senators who supported it than the 13 senators who opposed it.

Another way of saying it: anyone who claims the public option doesn't have public support is full of bull.

Senator Tom Harkin isn't deterred:



So what's next?

A public health insurance option has been passed by four out of five committees in Congress dealing with health care. The next time the public health insurance option will come up for consideration is when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid merges the Baucus bill with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee bill.

If a public option is not added on the Senate floor, it could also wind up in the bill once the Congress merges the Senate and the House bills. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated her assurance that the House bill will have a public option.

It's still early in the game, and as Yogi said, it ain't over 'til it's over.

Some Things Never Change

Rock Out to Science

Kudos to They Might Be Giants for making science kid-friendly. You can get the full album (which is a CD/DVD with animated videos) for your kids here.

Poll: 65% of Americans Support Goverment Health Insurance Option

Findings from the latest New York Times/CBS poll:

By a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, Americans said Mr. Obama has better ideas about overhauling health care than Republicans. And the percentage of Americans who approve of how Mr. Obama has handled health care has gone from 40 percent in August to 47 percent, about equal to where it was earlier in the summer.

On one of the most contentious issues in the health care debate — whether to establish a government-run health insurance plan as an alternative to private insurers — nearly two-thirds of the country continues to favor the proposal, which is backed by Mr. Obama but has drawn intense fire from most Republicans and some moderate Democrats.

Even though these "moderate" Dems (those from conservative districts) have put up some resistance, another poll found that their constituents support the public option.

What do docs want? A survey of more than 5,000 docs of various specialties found that they:

..overwhelmingly support either a public option or a public system. Indeed, when you add the two groups together, it's more than 70 percent of respondents.

Ok, let's tally the score. A large majority of Americans want the public option. Docs want the public option. Obama and (most) Dems want the public option. Amazingly, even Bill O'Reilly wants a public option. The only ones against the public option are Republicans, a diminishing number of conservative Dems, and of course, the insurance companies.

Amendments related to the public option are scheduled to be debated by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. Are they listening?

What About Insurance Company Execs?

Who's looking out for them? (other than BOTH political parties, that is)

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Kinda Catchy

Porn Makes You Gay

Witness Michael Schwartz, staffer for far-right Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, tell the folks at the Value Voters Summit how pornography will make you gay:



What is wrong with these people?

Obama's Health Care Plan in 4 Minutes

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that many people still don't understand how the Dems intend to reform health care or why it's important (even if you already have health insurance). If you are one of these people, this is for you:

American Psychos

Videos like this really disturb me. Of course, I should note that Glenn Beck and Fox News played a key role in publicizing this event. In fact, Fox producer Heidi Noonan was caught riling up the crowd for the cameras. Fail.



My question is: what are they so pissed about? What, exactly, has Obama done during his 8 months in office that has so radically changed the country? Salon's Glenn Greenwald provides some interesting insight:

Some argued that Obama's race has caused the Right's hostility towards him to be both unique and unprecedentedly intense. That some people react with particular animus towards the first black President is obvious. But there is nothing new about the character of the American Right or their concerted efforts to destroy the legitimacy of Obama's presidency.

To see that, just look at what that movement's leading figures said and did during the Clinton years. In 1994, Jesse Helms, then-Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, claimed that "just about every military man" believes Clinton is unqualified to be Commander-in-Chief and then warned/threatened him not to venture onto military bases in the South: "Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He better have a bodyguard." The Wall St. Journal called for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the possible "murder" of Vince Foster. Clinton was relentlessly accused by leading right-wing voices of being a murderer, a serial rapist, and a drug trafficker. Tens of millions of dollars and barrels of media ink were expended investigating "Whitewater," a "scandal" which, to this day, virtually nobody can even define. When Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden, they accused him of "wagging the dog" -- trying to distract the country from the truly important matters at hand (his sex scandal). And, of course, the GOP ultimately impeached him over that sex scandal -- in the process issuing a lengthy legal brief with footnotes detailing his sex acts (cigars and sex talk), publicly speculating about (and demanding examinations of) the unique "distinguishing" spots on his penis, and using leading right-wing organs to disseminate innuendo that he had an abandoned, out-of-wedlock child. More intense and constant attacks on a President's "legitimacy" are difficult to imagine.

..Nothing that the GOP is doing to Obama should be the slightest bit surprising because this is the true face of the American Right -- and that's been true for a very long time now. It didn't just become true in the last few months or in the last two years. Recent months is just the time period when the media began noticing and acknowledging what they are: a pack of crazed, primitive radicals who don't really believe in the country's core founding values and don't merely disagree with, but contest the legitimacy of, any elected political officials who aren't part of their movement.

PSG is Back!

I hope you all had a good Summer. A lot has happened during the past couple of months, but the focus continues to be on health care reform. So where are we? The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn explains what has happened over the past month or so:

The August recess began with critics attacking health care reform because of its high price tag. It ended with critics attacking health care reform because of how reformers proposed to reduce that high price tag. The intervening weeks were nightmarish: Instead of using August to showcase what reform could do for the average American, the White House spent most of its time knocking down rumors of death panels for the sick and elderly. And as the right became energized, the left grew disillusioned, as much by the administration’s backroom deals as by its ineffectual messaging. Eventually, the shift showed up in the polls. First people grew more wary of reform. Then they grew more wary of the president. It was if everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Somehow, though, health reform is not dead. Despite all of the setbacks and all of the missed opportunities--despite this train wreck of a month--the situation remains remarkably similar to what it was before the recess.

Last week, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (which is the last of five congressional committees that need to approve health care legislation before the topic can be taken up by both the full Senate and the full House of Representatives), Max Baucus, unveiled his long-awaited plan to remake the nation’s health care system and insure millions of Americans. The bill is generally in line with what President Obama requested, except that it does not include a new government insurance plan (the so-called public option) to compete with private insurers.

The full Senate Finance Committee now gets to offer their requested amendments to the bill. Senators have offered 564 amendments, and of course the Republican proposals generally gut the bill. However, one Republican, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, is signaling that she may be willing to vote for the bill. Naturally, the Dems and the White House are wooing her.

In most polls, Americans are divided on whether to reform health care (although I'd guess most people have no idea what's in the bill). With support somewhat slipping (GOP scare tactics have been effective), Obama is currently on a media blitz to increase public support.

Many questions still remain. Will there be a public option in the final bill? Should employers be required to offer coverage? Should individuals be forced to buy it? And what should be the consequences if they don't?

We'll soon find out.

Healthcare Reform: Fact vs Fiction

If you have been watching the news lately, you know that the Republicans are working really hard to kill healthcare reform. They've even taken to hiring lobbying firms to bring in people to disrupt debate at town hall meetings being held by Dems around the country. They will do anything to stop them from fixing our broken healthcare system. Contrary to what the Republicans are saying, Obama is not out to create a single-payer (government) healthcare system. His key goal is to offer an affordable public OPTION for Americans. If you like your insurance, keep it. How hard is this for people to understand? Anyway, I decided to take a brief respite from my hiatus to bring you this important info (numbers in parentheses represent sources, which are listed below):

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!

The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."(4) What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.(5)

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!

The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.(6) Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.(7)

If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.(8) But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!

The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.(9) And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!

The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.(10) Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.(11)

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!

The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.(12) The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade (13)—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.(14) Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.(15)

And of course, the Daily Show smartly weighs in:

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Sources:

1. "More 'Town Halls Gone Wild': Angry Far Right Protesters Disrupt Events With 'Incomprehensible' Yelling," Think Progress, August 4, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51733&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=2

2. "Fight the smears," Health Care for America NOW, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=3

3. "Palin Paints Picture of 'Obama Death Panel' Giving Thumbs Down to Trig," ABC News, August 7, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51728&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=4

4. "No 'death panel' in health care bill," The Associated Press, August 10, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51747&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=5

5. "Stop Distorting the Truth about End of Life Care," The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51730&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=6

6. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 11, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#i1

7. "Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51737&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=7

8. "Obama: 'If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,'" The Wall Street Journal, 15, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51736&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=8

9. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#r1

10. "Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform," CNN, July 28, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51748&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=9

11. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#s1

12. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1

13. "Premiums Run Amok," Center for American Progress, July 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51667&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=10

14. "Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies," CNN, June 5, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51735&id=16782-10309825-IiLBXwx&t=11

15. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1



I now return you to your regularly scheduled program..

SUMMER HIATUS

Hello, good people! I know, it's been a bit too quiet around here for the past couple of weeks. I have a good excuse, though. Between starting a new job and my wedding next month, I'm simply too busy to post (although I've been dying to blog about Sarah Palin's recent resignation, the Sotomayor hearings and other newsworthy items). Regardless, PSG will be back after Labor Day. I hope you'll come back for a visit.

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Thanks and have a great summer,

Alex

Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

Those words, written by Martin Luther King Jr while he was jailed in Birmingham for his role in the protests against racial segregation at the time, serves to remind me that each of us has the responsibility to help build a just world. Ultimately, it's about what is right and what is wrong. Passing any type of legislation that separates, classifies or strips anyone of equal rights is simply wrong. Yesterday President Obama met with gay leaders to mark the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event many consider to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. We've seen much progress since then, especially in the last few years, but there's still much to be done. That able service members are being dismissed due to their sexual orientation is a complete embarrassment (and the fact that gay Arabic translaters are still being fired while we are fighting two wars is beyond stupid). The Washington Post's Richard Cohen has an excellent column on the subject today. A taste:

The admirals and generals who oppose repealing "don't ask, don't tell" are out of touch with American society. They live in a cloistered world that has not changed while much of America has. What's more, they ignore or dismiss the lesson of other countries. Britain, Denmark and Israel, among other nations, allow openly gay men to serve in their armed forces. You can dismiss Britain and Denmark if you want to, but Israel is a different matter. Its army does not play games.

History speaks volumes here. It was much harder to integrate blacks into the armed forces than it will ever be to have gays come out of the military closet. Of course, there will be resistance to changing "don't ask, don't tell." So what? It's the right thing to do and the military, of all institutions, knows how to enforce discipline. Will there be incidents? You bet. Will a gay man hit on one who is not? Again, you bet. But does this happen all the time with heterosexual women and heterosexual men? Of course. Come-ons are part of life. Same sex or opposite sex, they are not fatal.

I'll cut President Obama some slack for the lack of progress for now (after all, we're fighting 2 wars and dealing with a terrible economic crisis; he's also the first president to celebrate gay pride in the White House), but I fully expect to see the repealment of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell during his first term. Obama might want to remember another quote from MLK, "A right delayed is a right denied."

Preaching Idiocy

Crazy on a stick, deep fried and then dipped in crazy sauce:

Man, this makes me miss George Carlin.

Excellent Point

John Aravosis at Americablog hit the nail on the head about the Dem's Congressional leadership. If they were smart, they would:

..immediately bring up for a vote the repeal of DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act--the federal law which defines marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman] while the Republicans are reeling from their second bimbo eruption in a week. Let the Republicans start talking about the protection of traditional marriage. Just let them. If anything, the DOMA repeal FORCES the entire country to keep talking about the ongoing GOP sex scandals.

Calling Harry and Nancy...

Fair and Balanced, My Ass

As you can see in the screen grab on the left, while Mark Sanford was explaining that he had been in Argentina the last 5 days screwing around on his wife, Fox News accidentally put a "(D)" (as in Democrat) after his name (They corrected it in later chryons). Interestingly, Fox had no problem correctly labeling him a Republican when he was still in the good graces of the GOP. Most sane people would think that this is a simply typo. However, this is not the first time Fox has done this. When former congressman Mark Foley admitted to having problems with alcoholism -- after reports that he had behaved inappropriately with congressional pages -- Fox News also identified him as a Democrat. Gee, I wonder why they don't make the same mistake whenever a Democrat screws up..

While we're on the subject, here is more evidence that Fox News are a bunch of dirty bastards (but you knew that already, didn't you?):

Don't Cry For Mark, Argentina

Just as I was writing the post below about the moral bankrupcy of the GOP, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, after disappearing for the last 5 days, held a press conference to admit that he's been cheating on his wife with a woman from Argentina. Mystery solved! "I spent the past five days of my life crying in Argentina," he said, "so I could come back and cry here." Yes, he used crying and Argentina in the same sentence. You really can't make this stuff up.

UPDATE: Here is the video from the press conference:

I know, I know. The Democrats have had had their share of uh..slip-ups (Bill Clinton, Jim McGreevey, and Eliot Spitzer come to mind). There is a difference, though. Andy Ostroy at Huffington Post explains:

Democrats don't sanctimoniously lecture everyone else from the bully pulpit about ethics. About what's moral. About what constitutes "acceptable" family values. About how to live your life. About right and wrong. Good vs. evil. That's what Republicans do. It's conservatives who want to tell us all how to live, who to marry, who to sleep with, what to do with our bodies, when to let a sick loved one die. But time and time again, they are proven to be living a lie. Creating a double-standard. They're all about "Do as I say, not as I do". They often live in the biggest glass house, yet throw the largest stones. So when they fall, when they sin, when they are exposed as the hypocrites they are, we rejoice. Because that's what they deserve.

Morally Bankrupt

I just love it when hypocrites are exposed:

Senator John Ensign, a well-known social conservative and family-values advocate, admitted on June 16 to an eight-month extramarital affair with a married campaign aide. The Nevada Republican's sober confession, read before a pack of reporters in Las Vegas, doubtlessly dashed the hopes of many in the party who considered Ensign an emerging national leader. The 51-year-old even fanned the flames of presidential speculation earlier this month with a trip to the key presidential-primary state of Iowa. Beyond embarrassing the second-term Senator, the revelation opened him to charges of hypocrisy: he had previously called on both President Bill Clinton and former Idaho Senator Larry Craig to resign after their own sex scandals.

Ensign, who has earned a reputation as one of Congress’ most active and ardent social conservatives, is also a born-again Christian and member of Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes fidelity. Add him to the ever-growing list of "moral" Republicans who constantly tell us how to live our lives and deny the rights of gays to marry, yet keep getting caught up in scandals like these. Let's take a look back at some of the more memorable examples from the past few years, shall we?

• Mark Foley, US Congressman from Florida. Engaged in sexually-explicit text-messaging with 17-yo former male pages. He had been chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.
• Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. Married three times. Gingrich campaign worker Anne Manning admitted that she gave Newt oral sex while he was still married to his first wife. Informed one wife he was filing for divorce while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer treatments.
• David Vitter, Senator from Lousiana. His number was included in the telephone records of an escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a woman dubbed by the news media as the "D.C. Madam." Since then, other prostitutes have come forward saying that he was a former client.
• Larry Craig, former Idaho Senator. Voted yes on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, he voted against a bill that would have banned job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and against expanding the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation. Pleaded guilty to "lewd" disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer interpreted his actions in a men's rest room at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport as a solicitation for sex.
• Rudy Giuliani, former NYC Mayor and candidate for President. Married three times. Accused by his fomer wife of "notorious adultery." Several examples of cross-dressing. He plans to use his opposition to gay marriage as a central plank in his run for NY Govenor in 2010, although he used to live with a gay couple.
• Bob Barr, Republican Congressman from Georgia. Sponsored the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, saying "The flames of hedonism, the flames of narcissism, the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundation of our society, the family unit." Was married three times. Although he has called abortion murder, he paid for his second wife's abortion. Failed to pay child support to the children of his first two wives and while married to his third and present wife was photographed licking whipped cream off of strippers at his inaugural party.

AWOL

My favorite story this week is the strange disappearance of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (you know, one of those guys who was talking tough about rejecting federal stimulus funds). Accounts of Gov. Mark Sanford’s six-day absence from his public duties remain unclear and, in some instances, contradictory. A timeline of events:

Thursday

Sanford leaves the Governor’s Mansion in a black State Law Enforcement Division Suburban assigned to his security detail. A precise time is unavailable.

A mobile telephone tower in Atlanta near Hartsfield airport picks up a signal from Sanford’s phone. It is the last signal before his phones are turned off for days.

Friday

Law enforcement officials get no response to phone and text messages sent to Sanford.

Saturday

The governor’s office reports to police that there is no reason for concern but provides no details.

State Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, calls SLED [State Law Enforcement Division] chief Reggie Lloyd about rumors that no one knows where Sanford is and no one can reach him. Lloyd confirms that Sanford’s whereabouts are known.

Sunday

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer learns Sanford’s whereabouts are unknown.

Monday

Monday morning — Reporters hear rumors that Sanford’s location is a mystery.

2:30 p.m. Knotts issues a statement raising questions about Sanford’s absence, asking who is in charge of the executive branch of S.C. government.

2:40 p.m. The State newspaper posts an online article saying Sanford has been out of reach for four days.

2:50 p.m. The governor’s office issues a statement that Sanford “is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle. ... We are not going to discuss the specifics.”

3 p.m. The Associated Press reports that first lady Jenny Sanford says she does not know where her husband is, but he is taking time away from their four boys, “to write something.” She says she is not worried.

Midafternoon Sanford security officials are told by the governor’s office that he is OK. No details are provided.

3:40 p.m. The lieutenant governor’s office says Sanford’s office says it has spoken to Sanford and knows where he is.

About 5 p.m. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer denies that staffers told Bauer’s office that someone had spoken with the governor.

5 p.m. As media inquiries escalate to include national news outlets, Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer issues another statement. It says in part, “Before leaving last week, (Sanford) let staff know his whereabouts and that he'd be difficult to reach.” He declines to elaborate. Sawyer also doesn’t know whether Sanford is still in the country.

10:05 p.m. The governor’s office issues a statement saying Sanford is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Staff members do not know where Sanford is on the trail and will not say whether he is hiking with anyone.

Tuesday

9:42 a.m. The governor’s office issues a statement saying staffers have spoken with Sanford and he will return to work today.

[As of 9:00PM last night, Lt. Governor Bauer still did not know where he was. Rachel Maddow did an interesting interview with the bewildered Lt. Governor last night.]

Wednesday

Gov. Sanford arrives in the early morning at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for the drive back to Columbia.

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but what kind of person takes off at a moment's notice to Argentina without telling his wife or family (on Father's Day weekend, no less)? He says he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline. When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, 'I don't know.'

This all sounds VERY fishy to me. I'm taking bets that we will find out that he was with another woman (or man..he's a Republican, after all). The Daily Show has its own theory. But all kidding aside, Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic raises an important point:

..as the executive officer of a government, he has, in essence, a formal and probably legal responsibility to the people of his state to be in office at all times, and short of that, to find a way to responsibly and transparently and temporarily transfer power to a subordinate. That's a basic, and usually obvious, cost of seeking public office. Even if South Carolinians support his choice to check out, it is rather arrogant of him to presume that his executive authority is untethered to his interactions with other human beings.

ABC/WaPo Poll: Obama Still Strong

New poll numbers from ABC News/Washington Post on some of the big issues. To me, the last set of bars is most surprising.

Obama-San

You may have heard that Obama flashed his ninja-like reflexes to kill a bothersome house fly during an interview with CNBC last week (funny enough, PETA complained about it, and then it was mocked by Stephen Colbert). Naturally, the clip has spawned a bunch of parodies. One of my favorites:

We Need a Public Health Care Insurance Option

The hot topic in Washington over the past few weeks has been healthcare reform. Of course, this is an intensely divisive issue among Democrats and Republicans. What Obama and many (but not all) Congressional Democrats are arguing for is a public option (this would not be free, but would be more affordable coverage and no one would be turned away for preexisting conditions). The Dems aren't even trying to push for a "single payer" health care system (ie. the government runs the entire system). In other words, if you are lucky enough to get private healthcare coverage from your job and you are happy with it, then keep it. Nothing changes for you. But there are nearly 50 million people that do not have coverage. According to a Harvard study, someone goes bankrupt every 30 seconds because of medical costs. Uninsured people with a medical emergency simply go to the ER, which of course, is the most expensive way to get care and costs taxpayers billions.

Howard Dean explains why we need a public option:

The New York Times editorial staff agrees:

There is no serious consideration in Congress of a single-payer governmental program that would enroll virtually everyone. Nor is there any talk of extending the veterans health care system, a stellar example of “socialized medicine,” to the general public.

The debate is really over whether to open the door a crack for a new public plan to compete with the private plans. Most Democrats see this as an important element in any health care reform, and so do we.

A public plan would have lower administrative expenses than private plans, no need to generate big profits, and stronger bargaining power to obtain discounts from providers. That should enable it to charge lower premiums than many private plans.

It would also provide an alternative for individuals who either can’t get adequate insurance from private insurers or don’t trust the private insurance industry to treat them fairly. And it could serve as a yardstick for comparing the performance of private plans and for testing innovative coverage schemes.

The Republicans have been working hard to paint this is as "socialized health care"..eeekkk! Scary! However, they are simply trying to scare people (as usual). It's not working, though. A number of polls conducted in recent weeks have shown overwhelmingly strong support among Americans for a public option (here and here too). Could this be why? What's more, a majority of Americans are even willing to pay more taxes to make sure that all are insured.

The hilarious thing about the poll results is at least half of self-identified Republicans support a public option. So why would their leaders (and some conservative Dems) fight against it? If you guessed campaign contributions from the insurance companies, you'd be right.

If you support a public option and want to do something about making it happen, click here.