Court approval of health law sets national stage for the cost limits that Massachusetts is seeking

Court approval of health law sets national stage for the cost limits that Massachusetts is seeking

Massachusetts, with its universal, albeit private, health insurance system, established with the endorsement of Governor Mitt Romney in 2006, is apparently the model for the nation.

So, all eyes are on the commonwealth of Massachusetts and its experience with the Romneycare/Obamacaresystem.

The above article is from the Boston Globe, July 1, 2012.

Obamacare or Not, Progressives Vow Fight for 'Medicare for All' | Common Dreams

Obamacare or Not, Progressives Vow Fight for 'Medicare for All' | Common Dreams

Published on Thursday, June 28, 2012 by Common Dreams

Obamacare or Not, Progressives Vow Fight for 'Medicare for All'

Members of congress and citizens groups will not let Supreme Court interupt fight for 'real solution' to health care crisis

- Common Dreams staff

Both inside and outside of the US Congress, advocates of a single payer 'Medicare for All' approach to health care see the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as an opportunity to voice their continued support for the only solution they say will work to cover all Americans while also bringing down costs. Regardless of what the high court announces on Thursday, they vow to continue their fight despite the political roadblocks in their path.
"It's easy to see it's a good idea," Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told the Huffington Post on Wednesday, the day before the court's decision. "It's the cheapest way to cover everybody."
Asked by the HuffPo's Jennifer Bendery why progressives in Congress think a single-payer option could advance this time around, Ellison said if the court strikes down some or all of the existing health care law, it will show that the individual mandate was a failed approach. "We've tried it the right-wing way. Let's try it the right way," he said.
In Vermont, where Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin has championed a state-level single-payer system which would cover all Vermonters under a GreenMountainCare plan, efforts may be impacted by the SCOTUS decision, but they will not be derailed.
Talking to Vermont Public Radio, Shumlin said that the court's decision, regardless of outcome, would not thwart his state's quest for a single payer model. "Vermont is going to continue to pursue the smartest, universal single payer health care system in America that spends less money on health care contains the rate of growth," said Shumlin. "So that we can have our companies and middle class Vermonters invest in other things like their kids education, groceries, sneakers for the kids, hiring new employees."
Citing other countries with more socialized health care models that cover all citizens and spend "two to three hundred percent less" than the US per capita, Shumlin argued against any further entanglements with the private insurance industry. "Forget the Supreme Court," he said.
Oliver Hall, an attorney who filed an amicus brief with the court on behalf of single payer advocacy groups  argues that the US already has examples of such systems in the US and says they work great.
“Those are Medicare and the Veterans Administration,” Hall told the website Single Payer Action. “Single payer is possible. It’s already happening in the United States. And that rebuts the primary tenet of the government’s contention in this case – which is that it cannot successfully regulate the health care market unless it has the power to require every American to buy private insurance. That is simply not the case. And Medicare and the Veterans Administration prove it.”

A Supreme Court for the 1 Percent | Common Dreams

A Supreme Court for the 1 Percent | Common Dreams

As we go to press, Americans are waiting to see how the Supreme Court will rule on the Affordable Care Act. But the Court’s right-wing majority has already guaranteed that insurance companies and other corporations will continue to have dramatically more say in American politics than citizens. With a pair of decisions on campaign finance, the Court reaffirmed its status as the branch of government most consistently in the service of the 1 percent, at a time when the concentration of income, wealth and political power is reminiscent of the Gilded Age.
The Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision had already given corporations the right to spend freely on behalf of candidates, causes and parties. But that ruling, as dark as it was, left some loopholes. Labor unions, while dramatically less well funded than corporations, still had significant leeway to spend on campaigns. Reformers also hoped that state and local governments would be able to enact limits on corporate campaign overreach.

Read more at:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/06/28-5

BREAKING: Supreme Court Upholds Mandate of Health Insurance

Live Stream from DemocracyNow.org: "Democracy Now! Live Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling: Tune in Thursday 10-11am EDT"
Democracy Now: "Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act"

A one-hour Democracy Now! special broadcast hosted by Amy Goodman, covering the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in upholding the Act, joining Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer. From outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC, to New York and around the country we get reaction from: filmmaker Michael Moore, health insurance industry whistleblower Wendell Potter, Georgetown University law professor David Cole, Elisabeth Benjamin of the Community Service Society of New York, Congressmember Keith Ellison (D-MN), Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program, Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, Russell Mokhiber of SinglePayerAction.org and Karen Higgins of National Nurses United.

Jeffrey Young, "Supreme Court Health Care Decision Preserves Biggest Expansion Of Coverage In 45 Years" --Huffington Post, June 28, 2012
Voting for upholding Barack Obama's individual health insurance mandate law: Justices John Roberts, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts' swing vote to the liberal direction saved bill: Mike Sacks, "Supreme Court Health Care Decision Preserves Biggest Expansion Of Coverage In 45 Years" --Huffington Post, June 28, 2012
Truth be told, this is a liberal sell-out to the private health insurance industry. It is ironic that Mitt Romney and conservative company decry it, as Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank proposed this individual mandate. As Cenk Uygur at Huffington Post points out in "The Mandate Is the Perfect Symbol of the Central Mistake of Obama Administration", June 25, 2012, the conservative Heritage Foundation originally proposed this.
From Alternet:
"Supreme Court Upholds Most of Obamacare"

The Supreme Court--with Chief Justice John Roberts leading the majority--has voted to uphold the heart of Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, according to reports on Scotusblog, in its first quick reading of the Supreme Court's historic health care reform decision.
The ACA's requirement that all Americans (except the very poor) have a health insurance plan by January 2014 or pay a tax penalty was upheld, giving the Obama administration a tremendous political victory.
However, the decision appeared to allow the coverage mandate to stand based on the Congress's ability to impose a tax, not under its constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. That interpretation is a victory for conservative ideologues, as it may constrain future congressional action on national economic issues.
Scotusblog said this was the Chief Justice's key quote, "Our precedent demonstrates that Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it."
Another major element of the law, concerning the expansion of state-based Medicaid programs to help the working poor and elderly was largely upheld, but apparently with restrictions that may allow red states not to implement the ACA, according to early reports.
On the Medicaid expansion, this was Robert's key quote, "Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of health care, and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use. What Congress is not free to do is to penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding."
In other words, it remains to be seen if red states will still be able to thumb their noses at the Obama administration and Congress and not implement the Medicaid expansion--such as opening clinics in underserved areas--without losing any funds for its other existing Medicaid programs.
Reading from the bench, Justice Anthony Kennedy made it clear that he--and presumably the other conservative judges would have thrown out the entire law.
Alternet will have more reports and update its analysis as the day proceeds. By Steven Rosenfeld | Sourced from 358 Posted at June 28, 2012, 7:34 am

Contrast this lame system with some of the best systems in the world, which do not have individual mandates to get private insurance. Sweden -government-run, costing approximately 9 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP). Italy -government-run, costing 9.0% of GDP in 2006.
France, the top rated globally by the World Health Organization, is closer to the approaching American model than the above systems. BUT, with its private component, it is much costlier than most European systems: it cost 11.2% of GDP on health care in 2005, or US$3,926 per capita, a figure much higher than the average spent by countries in Europe.

Rock n Roller Nugent, Whose Endorsement Romney Camp. Acknowledged, Man Messing Around with Underage Girls

As DemocraticUnderground.com reported (citing Politicus USA), rock 'n roll guitarist Ted Nugent said some violent words at a National Rifle Association convention this weekend, but that's not the only problem with the man whose endorsement the Mitt Romney for president campaign accepted.

Apparently, Nugent said in a 1998 VH1 "Behind the Music" interview that he messed around with underage girls back in his 1990s tours.

Of course, whether this was legal messing around or statutory rape, depends on a few factors.

From the videocafe, with allusions to Nugent's being a chickenhawk:

Lawrence O'Donnell went after Nugent for his draft dodging during Vietnam tonight, but he didn't mention this. I wonder if Romney is still going want Nugent's endorsement if the media picks up on this story as well. Given Nugent's history of violent rhetoric, you've got to wonder why Romney thought chasing after this guy for an endorsement was a good idea in the first place. Now we can add bragging about potential serial statutory rape, depending on just how young and what states these girls lived in, to the list of why his campaign should not have touched Nugent with a ten foot pole.

As this site reports, Nugent's marriage fell apart due to infidelity on the road, including with a 17 year old girl: http://www.roctober.com/roctober/behindthemusic1.html

Don't Write Off Gingrich, Santorum Delegate Effect After April 10

Yes, Rick Santorum has given up his 2012 presidential nomination bid.

But do you really think that his delegates are going to shift entirely over to Mitt Romney's camp?
At this point most of the Santorum delegates are going to go to Newt Gingrich.

With all the mainstream media pronouncing clear sailing for Romney, with the suspension of the Santorum campaign, you would wonder, have they looked at the primary and convention schedule for the next few weeks?

HOW THE HEADLINES WILL LOOK, APPROACHING APRIL 24, NEXT BIG PRIMARY DAY
The headlines over the next few weeks are going to most likely tell the story of Santorum delegates staying in the anti-Romney camp. The anti-Romney voters probably have not forgotten Romney's aide Eric Fehrnstrom's March 21 comment about Etch-a-Sketch of Romney's positions in September and October.
In the next few weeks we have various district, county and state level conventions. These are important meetings. As GreenPapers, one of the better sites on the primary elections tell us, these are dates at which convention attendees will vote on whom delegates will be, heading toward the August 27 Tampa convention.
So, on these dates, anticipate the affirmation of the anti-Romney position, and a shift of support, and endorsement of sorts, from Santorum to Gingrich:
April 13, Colorado district conventions, April 14, Colorado state convention and April 21, Minnesota's district convention.
Wyoming's convention, April 14, could go a number of ways. Out of the March 10 county delegate selection announcement, Romney won 10 delegates, Santorum 8, Ron Paul 6 and Newt Gingrich 2. If the Santorum delegates all go to Gingrich, then Gingrich would be tied with Romney.

Friendly primaries and delegate assignment meetings in the next few weeks also would more likely go Gingrich's way than Romney's:
Kansas (4/24), Louisiana (4/28), Minnesota (5/5), Indiana (5/8), West Virginia (5/8), Nebraska (5/15), Arkansas (5/22), Kentucky (5/22), Texas (5/29). And much of New York and Pennsylvania consists of red counties, so watch for Gingrich to pick up many delegates in those states on April 22.

So, the Newt Gingrich juggernaut will certainly not die out during April or May.

How Will Greek and Other Under the Debt Gun Voters React?

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:
GREECE TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT TODAY; TO HOLD SNAP PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION, SUNDAY, MAY 6
Details in this Reuters story from Tuesday night, April 10. Parliament has been summoned to meet Wednesday, April 11, at 2 PM, GMT.

(Alexis Tsipras, the next #2 leader of a coalition government? Tsipras is a civil engineer, and is the leader of Synaspismos political party, which is a leading party of the coalition of left parties, Coalition of the Radical Left [SYRIZA].)
(Scroll to the bottom for other austerity-strained countries' elections, this year and next.)

Europe is have a sovereign debt crisis.
Greece, most hardest it with austerity in this crisis, is having its parliamentary elections in April of 2012 (Sunday, April 29 or May 6, according to wikipedia). Already, polls are indicating that Greek voters are already set to vote in in increasing percentages for the Communist or other left parties.
Traditionally, either of the two largest political parties, New Democracy (the conservative party) or PASOK (the socialist party), had governed with a majority or a large plurality of 40 or more percent. In this era of the European sovereign debt crisis, it appears that Greece is heading to a party system with no party winning more than one-third of the vote. We are looking to a situation in which a government will be formed from a collection of eight or so parties. And it looks as though left of Socialist parties will pick up a larger percentage of the vote.
Ekathimerini.com reports with an April 1 dateline that the conservative New Democrats are anticipated to receive 22.5 percent. PASOK is polling at 15.5 percent. The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) is polling at 12.5 percent, the Democratic Left at 12 percent and the Communists at 12 percent. A new Independent Greeks party of New Democracy defectors is polling at 8.5 percent in opinion polls of voters.
Another ekathimerini.com posting, from March 21, 2012, also addresses the new political system and the great spread of support across different parties.

World Socialist Web Site claims that the various left parties are cozying up to the PASOK party [Socialist], with their eyes on PASOK to form a governing coalition.

Skip over its Trotskyist bias with the slanted adjectives and verbs:

Following a relentless series of attacks on their living standards and social gains, millions of Greeks are angrily turning their backs on the established political parties. According to recent polls, support for the social democratic PASOK party has slipped from 44 percent in 2009 to between 8 and 15 percent. Under these conditions, a number of pseudo-left parties are working to stabilize the situation and prepare the ground for a new government capable of enforcing additional social cuts.

The driving force behind a government of “leftist” parties is the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). It has repeatedly called upon the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Democratic Left (DIMAR) to cooperate in such a project, but so far both organisations have turned down the offer.

The last the New York Times addressed the party situation was "Greece’s Socialist Party Changes Leaders," March 19, 2012.

Other Countries Under the Debt Gun --with elections this year include:
France, presidential election, April 22, May 6, 2012; legislative election rounds, June 10, 17, 2012. The Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, is trailing right behind incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. The Christian Science Monitor news site has portraits of the top five presidential candidates. From far left, to center, to far right.
Ireland, referendum on EU debt compact, or fiscal treaty, May 31, 2012. So far, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom have voted against signing the debt compact. Ireland is the only nation that holds a referendum on the treaty.
Iceland, presidential election, June 30, 2012 (a beauty contest for a largely ceremonial position)
Lithuania, October, 2012.
Mexico, with a more stable debt situation than the above countries, is having its presidential election this year, July 1, 2012. Its leading left party is Party of the Democratic Revolution, whose strengths are restricted to the center and the south. It has cooperated in the Broad Progressive Front with the Labor Party and the Citizens' Movement. Its Congressional election are the same day. It will elect a mixture of first-past-the-post (winner take all) seats and list proportional representation seats. Follow the news at La Jornada.
(Other news: Croatians voted in a referendum, January 22, to join the European Union.)
Elections, next year, 2013: Bulgaria, Iceland, Italy)
How Will Their Voters React?

Spain's general strike shows first signs of rebellion against austerity

Spain's general strike shows first signs of rebellion against austerity
Austerity measures look set to become far more dramatic on Friday, when prime minister Mariano Rajoy delivers one of harshest budgets ever seen in Europe
Giles Tremlett, in The Guardian, March 29, 2012

With near-empty railway stations, shut factories, mass marches and occasional outbreaks of violence during a general strike on Thursday, Spaniards showed the first signs of rebellion against the reformist, austerity-preaching conservative government they voted in four months ago.

Police and pickets clashed in a handful of places, but it was a largely peaceful general strike in a country whose sinking economy, with 23% unemployment, has become the focus of worry about the future of the whole eurozone area.

Thousands of police officers remained on duty around the country on Thursday night as tens of thousands of flag-waving demonstrators flooded into city centres for protest marches against labour reform and austerity measures introduced by prime minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative People's party [PP].

Demonstrators brought the centres of Madrid, Barcelona and other cities to a standstill as trade unions claimed the strike was more widely supported than previous nationwide stoppages in 2010 and 2002. Rajoy's officials claimed, however, that the 2010 strike against a socialist government had received greater support.

Electricity consumption fell by 17%, suggesting the strike was impacting on major industries – though most shops appeared to be open in Madrid.

Street fires were set in both Madrid and Barcelona, where roads into the city were blocked, but there were few reports of serious violence.

The strike was most successful where Spain's big two unions, the General Workers Union and the Workers Commissions, are strongest – in large factories, the civil service and transport.

General Workers leader Cándido Méndez put average participation at midday at 77% but said that it was 97%in industry and construction.

"This strike has been an unquestionable success," he said.

Civilized protest looked unlikely to alter the determination of the government to drive on with reforms and austerity.

Rajoy has pledged not to backtrack on reform that has made it easier for employers to sack workers. And the austerity measures which strikers also demonstrated against looked set to become far more dramatic on Friday, when Rajoy is set to deliver one of the harshest budgets ever seen in Europe.

The general strike came on Rajoy's 100th day in power and at the end of a week that marks a watershed in political support for his party.

At the weekend he had seen support slip away in Spain's largest region, southern Andalucia, where the PP's share of the vote fell in a regional election from 46% to 41%.

The party also did badly in the northern region of Asturias, where it finished in third place in a Sunday vote.

Regional governments, which provide most welfare services and jointly failed to reduce their deficits at all last year, are seen as one of Spain's main problems.

The strike came amid growing concern about Spain in Brussels and the financial markets, which have put pressure on bond yields in recent weeks – though the Spanish government has had no trouble borrowing money to finance itself.

Yields remain below the levels at which bailed-out eurozone countries like Greece, Ireland and neighbouring Portugal were forced to seek help. Spain's national debt remains lower than in most eurozone countries.

Portugal's central bank cut its economic outlook on Thursday, warning the economy would be flat next year, where it had previously forecast a mild rebound of 0.3%. This year it expects a contraction of 3.4%.

With an economy that is twice the size of Greece, Portugal and Ireland put together, however, problems in Spain would have far-reaching consequences.

Rajoy held the budget back until Friday in order to avoid alienating voters in Andalucia, a strategy that has annoyed some commentators who believe he has wasted valuable time.

The European Union has set Spain a target of cutting its deficit from 8.5% of GDP to 5.3% this year, a net cut of some €34bn (£28.3bn).

As Spain falls back into a double-dip recession, however, economists say austerity measures will sharpen the fall. The government already predicts a 1.7% fall in GDP this year, with unemployment rising to 24%.

And with Spain entering a spiral of falling tax income, higher unemployment and recession, the real size of the cuts or tax hikes needed to meet the deficit target are much higher.

Economists have put the total adjustment needed to meet this year's target at between €52bn and €64bn – or well over €1,000 per Spaniard. The government has already covered €15bn of that with emergency measures announced in December.

Government sources said they were aware that Spain's credibility with the markets was on the line if it failed to meet the target, though some economists consider this impossible.

But Juan José Toribio, of Spain's IESE business school, said the country could no longer afford the welfare state built up during boom years and fuelled by a giant housing bubble that has since burst.

"We cannot sustain the current model of the welfare state," he said. "I am not saying we cannot have welfare, but we must seek a less expensive model."

Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com, warned that the sight of protesters on the streets of several Spanish cities will prompts fears that the government might relax its fiscal plans, making sovereign debt a less attractive purchase.

It's a GOP Race of Two and a Half Candidates

Shouldn't it be obvious by now? This is a race of two and a half candidates. Much as former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum would like it to be a two-candidate competition for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, it is not. And while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich believes that it is a three person race, it is not that either.

Scroll down - Santorum threat to Romney ahead with Etch-a-Sketch gaffe & Romney flip-lops -See flip-flop video links

Gingrich --besides the Alabama and Mississippi races, has been stuck in the seven to 15 percentage zone. His returns in all the other recent primaries bear that out:
14.4 percent in Kansas
10.9 percent in Hawaii
8.0 percent in Illinois
(Remember that Gingrich did not even have the organization for getting into the Missouri contest; and Puerto Rico saw Gingrich getting an even weaker return, two percent.)

The former Confederate states provide the exception to the rule of Gingrich mired below 15 percent in the primaries or caucuses. The Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi contests were in the to 23.9 to 31.2 percent range. So, with Gingrich's 15.9 percent share of the vote in yesterday's Louisiana primary, this was a precipitous defeat.
Crushing defeat for Romney
Furthermore, the Louisiana results were terrific for Santorum and terrible for Romney. Santorum took the entire state, save for one county, Orleans County, the one with the state's largest city, New Orleans. With Santorum's win of 49.0 percent of the vote, the Louisiana win was his third greatest victory yet since the Missouri contests with 55.2 percent of the vote. and Kansas with 51.2 percent. Romney was over 20 percentage points behind Santorum in Louisiana with 27.0 percent.
References:
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/events.phtml?s=c
http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/
With either reference click on the state contests on the 2012 table for the links to the addresses for the 2012 primary returns.

THESE WILL BE SANTORUM'S NEXT VICTORIES & HOW WILL VOTERS REACT TO MITT'S FLIP-FLOPS?:
One cannot help but think that longtime Romney campaign advisor Eric Fehrnstrom's Wednesday March 21 gaffe that Romney will switch his positions in the general election campaign with President Obama like Etch-a--Sketch will play poorly with authentic conservative voters.
The quote:

“Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.”

4/3, a Tuesday: Wisconsin primary
4/24, a Tuesday: Pennsylvania, aside from the northeastern (Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island) primaries losses to Romney
(And Romney's victories in New York, Connecticut and Delaware will not be that total. For upstate New York is much like the conservative regions of Pennsylvania and unlike any area in New England. See maps of these results from 2002 or 2004; and Connecticut is the state in which Republicans ion 2010 chose flaky World Wrestling Entertainment entrepreneur Linda McMahon for their Senatorial nominee, and Delaware is the state that gave us even flakier not ready for prime time Christine O'Donnell as its 2010 Senatorial nominee. So there will be big percentages for Santorum in those states. With the proportional distribution of delegates in these states the Romney victories will not mean a thorough sweep of the delegates, for Santorum will take his fair share with the proportionality rules.
This statement, combined with Romney's record of flip-flops in transitioning from Massachusetts to the national stage, will further caste doubt on his real plans for governing. See this set of videos of Romney's public statements on issues ranging from abortion to Contract for America, gay marriage and gun control. Youtube video of Romney speaking in support of Massachusetts' gun control laws. Youtube compilation of Romney flip-flops, "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush." "That's what we did in Massachusetts. That is, we put together an [health care insurance] exchange. The president's copying that idea. I'm glad to hear that." On global warming: "I believe that the world is getting warmer. I believe that humans are contribute to that.")
5/8, a Tuesday: Indiana, West Virginia primaries
5/15, a Tuesday: Nebraska primary

*Multiple choice exam on Mitt Romney positions on social and economic issues:
http://massresistance.org/romney/quiz/MittRomney20.pdf
5/22, a Tuesday: Arkansas, Kentucky primaries

Table of liberal cartoonists and their newspapers

Please scroll down. Tricky html pushed the thing down.

Newspaper	cartoonist
Washington Post:	Tom Toles
Los Angeles Times:	Jeff Danziger, David Horsey (hired away from Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Philadlphia Inquirer:	Tony Auth
Philadelphia Daily News:	Signe Wilkinson, one of few women cartoonists
Atlanta Journal Constitution:	Mike Lukovich
*Austin:	Ben Sargent
Boston Globe:	Dan Wasserman
(Dallas Morning News:	no seeming staff cartoonist)
Miami Herald:	Jim Morin
Chattanooga Times-Free Press:	Clay Bennett
Cleveland Plain-Dealer:	Jeff Darcy
Denver Post:	Mike Keefe
*Hartford Courant:	Bob Englehart
Houston Chronicle:	Nick Anderson (centrist)
Kansas City Star:	Lee Judge
*Lexington Herald-Leader:	Joel Pett
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:	Rob Rogers
(San Jose Mercury News:	no seeming staff cartoonist)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:	R.J. Matson
Seattle Times:	Eric Devericks (centrist)

(Chicago cartoonists are pro-Republican; except Sun-Times, which runs Margulies cartoons)
*Not in top 50 circulation papers
Syndicated: Jimmy Margulies, Tom Tomorrow

How Smart Is It to Have a SmartPhone? --Theft of Photos and iPhone User Account Info Rampant

Much news on smartphones is cause for serious concern.
Sharing and inter-connectivity have their risks. I have long had this concern, and I early noticed that security problems, including vulnerability to viruses, malware are abundant in Microsoft Office products, especially Microsoft Outlook.

On the iPhone your photos can be remotely captured by another user. This is of concern for people concerned for their privacy and their families' security. It also is of concern for people that want to have proprietary control over their photographs, lest they want to sell such photos.
From at Suzanne Choney at MSNBC, undated: "iPhone photos can be seen by others: report"
http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/iphone-photos-can-be-seen-others-report-261014

And Android has other problems with apps and security:
From Kevin Fogarty at IT World, March 2, 2012, "Google threatens to ban insecure apps on Android: News: Google to ban all Android apps: Google threatens apps that exploit excessive access rights; not security system that allowed them"
http://www.itworld.com/security/255210/google-response-flaw-lets-apps-steal-photos-ditch-insecure-apps-thats-all-them

Missouri Caucus Confusion, Arrests; Broader Implications

March 17, 2012 turned out to be a day of complexity for the Republican presidential contest in Missouri. 5:00 Eastern time and we do not have clear results.
However, we do have impressionistic reactions. Of course, the impression is that Rick Santorum did well. Interesting are the reports from the ABC-TV News blog that this was one of Ron Paul's best days. Also, news supports contentions that there is some level of coordination or at least strategic peace between the Mitt Romney and Ron Paul campaigns.
See ABC's "Missouri Caucus Anecdotes: Arguments, Arrests, and a Good Day for Ron Paul", March 17, 2012.

Actually, this story will not resolve this weekend, for the last results do not get released until March 24, 2012. Many locales, including St. Louis, will not hold their caucuses until the 24th.
From UPI:

So the winner of Missouri's 52 electoral votes for the GOP presidential nomination will not be known until a round of meetings in April, weeks after most of the county-level caucuses are conducted.

And reports on the political infighting and arrests: These are not a good development, for if these things were happening on the Democratic, or a third, progressive side, the Left would be crying, state control:
From Des Moines Register: Contention, confusion mar Missouri caucuses, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/usatoday/article/53587822?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Iowa%20Politics%20Insider|s
From STLive: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gop-caucus-sites-drawing-big-crowds/article_a8eb35ec-7050-11e1-acac-0019bb30f31a.html

Celeb gone psycho: Russell Brand in snatch and toss of photog's phone, in police custody

New Orleans, March 15, 2012, from TMZ:
Whoops!!!
British TV and film Actor Russell Brand, the one with the sinister or at least moody glare, the one that recently separated from famed pop singer wife Katy Perry, the one famous for his roles in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the 2011 remake of Arthur, is alleged to have snatched a photographer's cellphone and is further alleged to have tossed it out a window.
The celebrity gossip site, TMZ, gave the news flash in the last hour: "Arrested for Cell Phone Snatch and Smash".
Apparently, there is little dispute over the facts at hand. Also, it has taken a while for the matter to reach the stage of the New Orleans police's arresting Brand. The incident happened on Monday night. However, the retrieval of the phone and Brand's offer to pay for the broken law office window in question was not enough. Police and prosecutors nonetheless have moved against Brand.
The New Orleans Police Department issued an arrest warrant for Brand; and he turned himself in.
NOLA.com reports that Brand is in the Big Easy for making a movie.

HR 347, Obama, Congress and America's Authoritarian Turn | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters

America's Authoritarian Turn | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters

Super Tuesday Analysis: Santorum's Victory

Conservatives love to make hay of the liberal bent of MSNBC.
Romney's victories
NBC News is a different story: David Gregory of Meet the Press is in steady pro-Mitt Romney mode, speaking with a cheery tone about Romney's victories:
Massachusetts,
Vermont
and Virginia (which doesn't count as a competitive model, as only Romney and Paul appeared on the ballot).
(BREAKING: By 11:15 PM, television network news announced that the Ohio margin had reversed, from Santorum with a narrow lead, to Romney with a narrow lead. The margin remains less than 5,000 votes.)
The Wyoming caucus results are at first indications leaning towards Romney.
Santorum's greater number of victories: Super Tuesday true big story
Rick Santorum has won Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Since about 9:00 PM Eastern, all the returns have Santorum leading over Romney.
NBC just reported that the North Dakota caucus went to Santorum.
Ginrich's sole victory
New Gingrich has won his home state, Georgia, probably what will be his last victory of the campaign.
(The Idaho caucuses seem too early to call, but are strongly leading to Romney at 10:50 PM.)
Santorum in the coming contests
This Saturday, March 10, the Kansas caucuses will probably go to Santorum. All of Kansas' surrounding contests, to date have gone to Santorum: Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Iowa.
And the same holds for next Tuesday's main contests will go to Santorum: Alabama and Mississippi. (Hawaii will probably go to Romney.)

Little Romney pick-up soon
And it will be until March 20 and the Illinois primary that Romney will have a victory.
Another big night for Romney will probably be April 24, with friendly primary contests in Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Rhode Island.

Mere Cracks in Democrat Leadership or Will Emanuel, Obama Attacks Lead Teachers, Other Public Workers to Sit Out 2012 Presidential Race?

On the one hand, we have this story that hints to cracks in Democratic leadership, suggesting that some Democratic Party leaders, or elites, are disgusted with Rahm Emanuel's fight against Chicago schools and teachers. (Chicago Mayor Emanuel is continuing predecessor Richard Daley's school closing program.) Rev. Jesse Jackson has called Rahm Emanuel's school policies, "educational apartheid." Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog reports that Nance Pelosi will appear this morning at Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition headquarters, where she is expected to endorse son Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s reelection bid to Congress to the 2nd Congressional District of Illinois.

But don't hold your breath for open breaches in the Democratic Party elite. The wind is blowing in the direction of more of the same public sector austerity. Take note:
In New York there is Governor Mario Cuomo who is on a holy war crusade against organized labor, government employees and their pensions: from Bloomberg Business Week, January 27, 2011: "Cuomo’s New York Budget Faces Union Fight on Pensions, Teachers".

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a $132.5 billion budget that links an increase in education spending to a new teacher-evaluation system and raises the retirement age for future workers, a move already drawing opposition from unions.

Cuomo’s spending plan for fiscal 2013 closes a $2 billion deficit with no new taxes in part by finding $1.14 billion in savings from consolidating purchasing and human resources, he said yesterday in Albany, the capital. A tax deal reached last month that raised rates on those earning $2 million or more added $1.5 billion in revenue.

The proposal follows through on Cuomo’s pledge to raise spending on Medicaid and education by about 4 percent. The boost in school aid will be tied to compliance with a new statewide teacher-evaluation system, a plan similar to one proposed last week by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The governor suggested he expects opposition from the teachers’ unions.

One wonders what is driving Cuomo to do this. Most likely is a pandering to middle class voters wincing at taxes, and willing to cut living and retirement standards of public employees.

From public employee unions we do not hear much, but Danny Donohue, president of the Civil Service Employees Association, the state’s largest public-workers union said,

“The proposal for a new public employee pension tier is an assault on the middle class and a cheap shot at public employees . . . . It will provide no short-term savings and will mean people will have to work longer, pay more and gain less benefit.

. . . . . . . . .

Then we have Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy, who apparently is now beginning to pursue a war against teachers. (This is an about-face to his pandering to teachers in his 2010 election campaign: "Malloy’s pitch to teachers: pensions to stay, binding arbitration a right, Foley would slash funds," from the Raising Hale site, September 22, 2010.) In his February 8, 2012 State of the State he said, “…only thing you have to do is show up for four years.” (No, he was not talking about being governor, he was speaking about teachers.) He is the state's first Democratic governor since 1991 and he is making this anti-tenure statement?
Malloy further said,

“Since 2009, 31 states have enacted tenure reform, including our neighboring states of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. It’s time for Connecticut to act. ”

Jonathan Pelto's "wait, what?" blog pointed out that Malloy conveniently skipped over the fact that Connecticut with its four year probation length is one of the nine states with the longest probationary period for new teachers.

Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, "Quinn looks to shift teacher pension funding to local school districts", February 4, 2012.

And in Maryland, with Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley and Democratic-led Senate and House, we are seeing the impact of the kind of shift of pension funding to local districts. The effect is local layoffs, cuts to libraries: from CBS Baltimore, February 29, 2012, "Counties Warn Of Cuts If They Pay Md. Pensions,"

Montgomery County school officials say they would have to cut 600 teachers and increase class sizes if lawmakers in Annapolis approve Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to shift teacher pension costs to the counties.

Board of Education President Shirley Brandman told the County Council on Tuesday that class sizes could increase by an average of 2.4 students per class. She says that would be the result if the school system has to pay $38 million in pension costs in the 2013 fiscal year.

Prince George’s County officials say they’re also worried the shift would lead to cuts in the workforce and services.

Politicians, Democratic and Republican, love to use the words, "cut," "trim." But they are skipping over the fact that those things mean the diminishing of the quality of life for public workers AND for the USERS of public services (schools, police, libraries, medical facilities).