apparently the price levels in the euro-zone are deflating, of course it will be only temporary says the ECB, however their knowledge of the future has also been rather bad.

To paraphrase a wise old man:

"There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party, and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties."
-Gore Vidal (mid 70s)

Smart man ^_^

The polling results on whether a public option should be in a health-care bill make it very unlikely that more than a very few congressional districts are opposed to it. It is dead certain that the attitude of Congress as a whole does not represent that of the people on this aspect, and on several others. That this discrepancy is due to ideology on the part of Congress is not really a credible hypothesis - the health care and insurance industries would not be spending as much as they do if it were not getting results.

But where the media are really falling down is in not presenting the data on the voter's attitudes in each district or state. When legislators are this far from the will of the people they need to be called to account. A real adversarial media would present such data as well as the data on money flow instead of just stenographically repeating the drivel in politician's speeches. Why is the discrepancy between what the people want and what Congress is doing not headline news?

Dean,

I have to agree with KTG's comment that the "Property Party" controls this country through their paid servants in the Democratic and Republican wings.

I truly saddens me that people like Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Howard Dean, yourself and many more rational middle of the road people are so marginalized by the Corporate Media. Of course the Corporate Media is doing a great disservice to America by spreading their Corporate lies.

America became great despite the Corporate Welfare State. Is Obama really interested in making America stronger? Wouldn't dismantling the media monopoly go a long way to breathing fresh air into the public discourse? Wouldn't it be nice for all Americans to feel good about themselves by not hearing from the hatred preachers of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck?

It could be the case that these Democrats side with Republicans on issues like health care because they have carefully contemplated issues and concluded that the Republicans were right. Of course it is also possible that they side with Republicans on issues like health care because they get lots of campaign contributions from special interest groups like the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and the A.M.A. Or it could be the the case that they side with Republicans on issues like health care because that is what will get them the most votes in their districts.

There are people, though, who will themselves to believe The Post's crap -- perhaps because they would prefer not to contemplate the alternative.

J Snow this may come as a shock to you but the American people prefer the Jerry Springer show to real debate on the issues. Look at the ratings.

Skeptonomist and Floccina,

The Republicans in Congress are dominated by a right wing that is committed to getting as much money as possible for the wealth and corporations (in this case, insurance companies and those who make money from them). End of story. This is evidenced in the totally imbecillic statements their spokepeople make about the health coverage issue, interrupted only occasionally by overt comments that they want to protect the insurers' profits.

Meanwhile, there seems to be a Washington "concensus" that proponents of a public option (let alone a single payor payments system) are silly and marginal, largely because they don't echo the concensus. The WaPo and its commentator/'reporters' are but one prominent voice in that 'concensus.'

The Republican Right and the Washington 'consensus' when it comes to protecting theprofits and perogatives of big money interests. The combined power of lobbyists and media ads to preserve the status quo, and the views of the Washington consunsus media, are enough to make several Democrats ---some of whom ARE admittedly beholden to and/or philosophically disposed towards the big insurance companies --- follow along.

IMHO, the choice with health coverage is continued huge profits for the insurance industry and its allies, or very broad health coverage for people who need it. I'm sad about how many people with power choose the former.

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight has done an analysis: "Likelihood of Supporting Pubic Option by Ideology and Fundraising." (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/special-interest-money-means-longer.html). Dean no longer has "no one knows."Just look at the chart. The more Insurance PAC money "Liberal" and "Mainline" Democrats receive, the more likely they are to NOT support a public option. I think this type of behavior was once called "bribery."

I'm pretty sure most liberal Democratic support for Healthcare Reform is not based on the huge financial rewards they will receive. I also seriously doubt Republicans secretly want extensive public healthcare reform, but the lobbyist cash just keeps them from doing the right thing.

The fact is that many Democrats aren't especially liberal.

Obama got it right a day or two ago when he pointed out that on one day the Republicans say the government run plan will be too expensive and on the next day they say the private market can't compete with the government run plan.
Why? Is it because the private plan will offer less and charge more?
On the other hand, Obama has it wrong when he doesn't just wipe out the present system and provide a solution on the lines of the Canadian and European systems.
Plus read the article in the June 1 New Yorker referred to above -- the problem with the system is greed. There is a reason why Pride and Greed are the first two of the 7 deadly sins.

OR it could be that congress people who receive campaign money already agree substantially with the donor. This of course means that those who hold such opinions are more likely to get elected in the first place since their campaigns are better financed. Of course either way the public gets screwed. We need a public money option for electing politicians.

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