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RedditAs I write today, turmoil and violence continue to roil Iran. Our Contributing Editor Robert Dreyfuss was on the ground in Tehran in the days before and after the election. He left Iran but is following the crackdown and protests; you can track breaking news at his blog The Dreyfuss Report, and see our slideshow, Iran on the Edge, for images from Tehran.
In other news from The Nation this week: Federal authorities in New Orleans have launched an investigation into the mysterious death of Henry Glover, a New Orleans resident who was found burned to death in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Glover's death went unsolved for over three years, until an expose by reporter A.C. Thompson in The Nation last December (supported by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute) raised serious questions about the incident and the role of New Orleans law enforcement. Six months after Thompson's cover story, new witnesses have come forward and a federal grand jury is hearing testimony from police officers and eye witnesses.
The debate over health care is heating up. Over the weekend we launched the first in a summer-long online debate series with National Review, with our Washington DC Editor Chris Hayes and the Review's Reihan Salam debating whether or not health care is a human right.
Over at MSNBC, I recently guest co-hosted on the new Carlos Watson Show, where I challenged Republican Congressman Eric Cantor on his opposition to a public, government-run health care plan, something he himself currently enjoys. Here's some video:
(Thanks to icebergslim at DailyKos for posting.)
Cantor's approach reflects that of the larger Republican Party, something I discussed on MSNBC's The Ed Show. The GOP has a pretty simple game plan on health care reform: No, no and no. But as I've written before in this space, it's not just Republican obstructionism that could imperil real health care reform; Democrats too need to get serious about a comprehensive, strong and robust public plan. The Ed Show segment, and our debate with The National Review, lay out some of the battle lines in the coming fight for comprehensive health care.
Finally, two honors of note. First a hearty congratulations to The Nation's Nick Turse, who won an honorable mention in "The Molly National Journalism Prize," the annual prize in memory of legendary muckraker Molly Ivins. Turse was recognized for his expose on civilian casualties in Vietnam, "A Mai Lai A Month." The Nation's Gabriel Thompson was also a finalist for The Molly. Also The Hillman Foundation (of which I'm on the board) has posted video from the Hillman Prize Awards, where The Nation was recognized for our special issue on inequality. We were honored to be given the award by humanitarian, activist and actor Danny Glover; his remarks are here.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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"The GOP has a pretty simple game plan on health care reform: No, no and no. "
Now, Ms vanden Heuvel, that's not entirely true. They DID reveal their intricate, detailed plan for overhauling the nation's health care system...
a FOUR page outline!
(Besting their pamphlet on their "alternative budget"!!!....heheh)
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 10:52am
Hye, checking in on TheNation from my part of the nation (visiting Orlando)....
Where is everybody? Please continue as you were (even while I'm away)....LOL!
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 10:52am
Oh, yea.....Hopey and Changey!
Mass layoffs match record high Job cuts involving at least 50 people from a single employer rise in May to highest level since 1995.
June 23, 2009: 11:42 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers rose last month to tie a record set in March, according to government data released Tuesday that suggested the labor market has yet to stabilize.
The Labor Department said the number of mass layoff actions - defined as job cuts involving at least 50 people from a single employer - increased to 2,933 in May from 2,712 in April, resulting in the loss of 312,880 jobs.
It was the largest loss of jobs connected to mass layoffs on records dating to 1995....
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 10:58am
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 10:58am
Hey, HAPP...how did unemployment do after Reagan's tax cut in August 1981?
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 11:14am
how did unemployment do after Reagan's tax cut in August 1981?
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 11:14am
Do you really think it matters to millions of jobless today and the millions more to come? If you do, I've got lots of foreclosure here in central FL for you to think about!
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 11:18am
how did unemployment do after Reagan's tax cut in August 1981?
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 11:14am
Do you really think it matters to millions of jobless today and the millions more to come? If you do, I've got lots of foreclosure here in central FL for you to think about!
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 11:18am
c'mon, HAPPENSTANCE, please explain to us how secretary GRAMM would be handling this.
this is my 17,658,435th request and you just don't seem to want to answer.
why not?
Posted by frosty zoom at 06/23/2009 @ 12:02pm
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 11:18am
It matters to your....honesty, HAPP.
So Obama's stimulus plan MUST see results in 4 months or less...
but Reagan got how many months for the "tried and true" plan of tax cuts? Something close to a year, yes?
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 12:53pm
Foreclosures?? In Florida??
Nah. Can't be. Lemme check just how this all got started.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/10/06/daily52.html
Posted by schnellerheinz at 06/23/2009 @ 1:05pm
Sorry for the sarcasm.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 06/23/2009 @ 1:06pm
It matters to your....honesty, HAPP.
Posted by Mask at 06/23/2009 @ 12:53pm
I know what Magic's plan WON'T DO......create gobs of jobs......while I also knew, though w/less certainty (then) due to simply my youth at the time, Reagan's policies would lead to growth.
You mustn't forget there are real people losing jobs and are suffering due Obamanoics....the greatest growth-killer of YOUR generation.
Time will tell for those not versed in simple fundamentals of growth economics!
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 1:09pm
I have always wondered when someone would ask the "well, if it's OK for YOU, (Senator or Congressperson) to have a public plan, why isn't it OK for the rest of America to have a public OPTION?"
My tax dollars help pay for Eric Cantor's healthcare plan; why shouldn't his tax dollars help pay for mine?
Nice job Ms. Vanden Heuvel.
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 06/23/2009 @ 1:12pm
Foreclosures?? In Florida??
Nah. Can't be. Lemme check just how this all got started.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 06/23/2009 @ 1:05pm
I'll tell you one way....via my Orlando host, a HS buddy, who by the way, had suffered, along with EVRYONE in his small professional services firm, a 20% paycut...though no layoffs just yet. He didn't volunteer this information but came out after I told him a small-cap company I'm invested in had done just that back in Houston.
His brother-in-law in Tampa, refinanced their house back in 2006 and took out a huge chunk of money w/subprime financing...and within a year, let it go into foreclosure.....
Oh, they lived well between refinaning and foreclosure.
The number of For Sale and For Rent signs are pretty unreal....as much if not more than, when Houston crashed back in 1986 after oil bottomed to $8 per bbl.
Posted by Happy at 06/23/2009 @ 1:32pm
Katrina, Good job on dealing on debating Cantor the GOP talking point boy. The GOP refuses to look at reality. It's like they've missed the last 8 years and certainly have missed the last 2 or 3 years. They missed the Enron years.
Private industry is not the answer to everything. How did FDR put it. "Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off. "
That's the thing the right wingers can't seem to wrap their heads around and evidently never will be able to either.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 06/23/2009 @ 3:13pm