Important: Obama sells out country to big pharma

From Ezra Klein:

There's been a lot of skepticism about the White House's strategy of cutting deals in which industry players voluntarily promise to save money over the next 10 years. The skepticism is simple enough: If the pharmaceutical companies are willing to save $80 billion as a favor to Barack Obama, that suggests there's a lot more than $80 billion that could, and probably should, be saved. As Nancy Pelosi told me, "The minute the drug companies settled for $80 billion, we knew it was $160 billion. Right? If they're giving away $80 billion?" A few minutes later, she suggested that maybe those agreements weren't inviolable. "The president made the agreements he made," she said. "And maybe we'll be limited by that. But maybe not!"

A front-page story in today's New York Times suggests that her optimism was misplaced. Billy Tauzin, head lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry, hasn't liked some of the cost-saving measures moving through the House. In particular, he's worried about provisions that would allow doctors to negotiate prices with Medicare. So he sat down with a reporter and gave up the game. The deal that the pharmaceutical companies made with the White House wasn't simply to offer up $80 billion in savings. It was to offer up $80 billion in savings so long as the White House promised to protect them from anything that would extract more than $80 billion in savings.

Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.

In response, the industry successfully demanded that the White House explicitly acknowledge for the first time that it had committed to protect drug makers from bearing further costs in the overhaul. The Obama administration had never spelled out the details of the agreement.

"We were assured: 'We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal,' " Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member ...

Too Big A Taboo?

The most important takeaway from the whole Gates thing...

Sent to you via Google Reader

Too Big A Taboo?

You might remember that bizarre story of the Democratic fundraiser out in the San Diego suburbs where an out of control Sheriff's Deputy ended up pepper spraying and throwing to the ground a group of harmless middle aged Dems and taking a couple of them into custody. This Gates story, while it adds the potent addition of race, in many ways gets at a similar issue. Police officers don't get fancy wages. But they put themselves in harm's way for us everyday. And they deserve our respect and our appreciation. But they also work for us. And you do have these cases where people get arrested or knocked around for basically nothing, or at worst mouthing off a bit or not being deferential enough.

Along those lines, TPM Reader NL has this to say ...

I was taken a little aback when Obama used the word "stupidly" last night to describe the actions of the Cambridge Police. Even if his statement could have been worded more carefully, I think the whole controversy brings up an issue that needs to be discussed and is very rarely discussed in a public policy sense. I am not referring to racism. I am referring to the power of the police. With good reason, we praise our police officers on a local, state, and national level. They put their lives on the line for us everyday. No one can doubt the nobility and honor of the profession. It is seldom publicly acknowledged or debated that the police wield great power in the lives of everyday citizens. A decade ago, I worked as an attorney in a fairly large Public Defender's Office. My clients were indigent and many of them were people of color. So, I know a little about police power as well as how persons of low income and color are treated in our criminal justice system. For me, though, the issue is not about race only. It is about the power the police have to arrest someone whether or not a crime took place. Sure, mistakes will happen, and most officers will try not to make an arrest if it is unnecessary. We all know (maybe not Prof. Gates) not to anger a police officer. I had so many cases in which someone cursed at an officer or made a gesture to an officer and ended up spending the night in jail. Prof. Gates spent four hours in jail. Even though his charge was dropped, I'm sure that time in jail for a law-abiding citizen was utterly horrendous. There simply is no reason to arrest someone for hurting your feelings or making an ugly gesture at you. It is not against the law in most contexts. In addition, I can assure you that most people who walk into a court room in a case in which it is the officer's word against him or her (a law-abiding citizen) is at a superior disadvantage. An overwhelming majority of judges simply will not believe the law-abiding citizen over the police off...

Washington Post offers access for cash

From Talking Points Memo:

Don't Look Good

We're just digging into this story the Politico broke this morning about the Post offering lobbyists access for cash payments. But I'd say the Post has a real problem on its hands.

Here's the lede ...

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few": Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and -- at first -- even the paper's own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its "health care reporting and editorial staff."

And Dave Weigel has an email Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli just sent out to the editorial staff saying reporters now will not participate.

It's worth noting the obvious competitive backstory behind the story. Politico is lead on the editorial side by a team of ex-Posties and it has targeted a big part of the paper's business. But facts are facts. And Politico seems to have gotten some that the Post really needs to explain.

Video Time

Sex With Ducks.

Cocktail Science

Let's get real anal when it comes to cocktails: let's debate what kind of ice is right for your Old-Fashioned:

The difference was startling. From the first sip, the drink with cheater ice was like a debased “cocktail lite,” with thin flavors and watery insipidness. The chunk ice yielded a richer taste, and had a denser, almost velvety texture to it. After five minutes, the cheater cocktail was deadly flat (“quite foul, actually,” decreed Rubel after a taste), while the drink with chunk ice seemed to be opening up and blossoming. Only after about 20 minutes had the second drink begun to soften around the edges.

I'm intrigued.

Tobacco Sampling List

If you want to start smoking a pipe, here are some good blends to try:

• Full Virgina Flake (pure sweet red virgina goodness)

• Penzance (a rich english blend)

• Old Gowrie (good rich brown virginia)

• With Pipe and Book (Adirondack blend! another english)

Pipe Lust

Required reading

On why newspapers are teh suck:

http://www.cjr.org/essay/newspaper_narcissism_1.php?page=all

Camarillo-area greenhouses produce 21st century crops - Los Angeles Times

fooNeat article on the future of greenhouses. Don't know if they would be
applicable up here, but in sunny climates, good design.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-greenhouse14-2009may14,0,4784175.story

The scene

First impressions of Denver:

Comimg from the airport, I see rill erosion on roadbanks,then some
nice erosion control blanket and hay bales. Hard to take the engineer
out of me, I guess. Cemented rip rap spillways for their storm ponds,
a twister of dust.

Denver's skyscrapers Pop out of the ground in front of the Rockies
like monoliths.

Walked from downtown (market square) to east 17th street in search of
coffee. A bit over a mile, enough to get winded in the mile high air.
Coffeeshop in an old house, mixed commercial/residential neighborhood.
Great feel, mediocre coffee. Got good tips for live jaZz this week.

From Denver

In Denver for a week to see my old high school friend. Got here fast,
both planes were ahead of schedule. Some guy took advantage of my good
nature and got $20 from me for an advocacy group (green energy). One
thing I didn't consider is that i'm in country music land now. Shit.
Off to see the Denver lunch scene.

What he said...

From a Talking Points Memo reader, responding to Gov. Jindal's rebuttal to Obama's address last night:

The problem isn't government, it's Republican government - and everyone knows it.

25 Random Things

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I want to downsize my life. Ideally, this consists of selling the house, most of the stuff in it, and move back into a 1-bedroom apartment in Burlington.

2. Eventually, I want to build a small house in the middle of nowhere.

3. Regardless, I am a big gear head/tech geek. I fight the urge to buy new music equipment weekly.

3. I haven't had cable for about 5 years now. Don't miss it much. I do watch some TV using my bunny ears. I can get PBS, snow, or french-language Canadian channels.

4. I have studied kung fu for nearly 7 years. I am fairly proficient with a broadsword and a staff. Also know how to use a flute as a weapon.

5. I do not downhill ski very often anymore. It was all I wanted to do in high school, but a bad pair of boots has pushed me over to the cross-country side of things.

6. I keep a rather small circle of friends. The best time of year for friendship is when my high school friends come up to my family's camp.

7. I follow the professional starcraft gaming scene. It is the modern-day version of chess.

8. I am an unabashed food lover. I can also cook. Well. Really well. Sauces are my specialty.

9. I love to drink. Beer, wine, liquor, whatever. I don't discriminate. From Utica Club to Laphroaig 30 year old scotch, I love a good drink.

10. I have only purchased volkswagens for vehicles. Probably won't change, either. I love my Turbo Diesel Golf. My dream car is an 83 GTI.

11. I am about 25% of my way to being an Adirondack 46er. Been that way for a couple years now.

12. Music is a constant in my life. I need musical input througout the day. I go to shows about once every other month, I download a new album or live show a couple times a week, and am constantly bookmarking new artists on last.fm.

13. On a related note, I want to punch anyone who claims "music today sucks." Music today is better than it has ever been, thanks to the intertubes distributing music far and wide for free. Most of the people who say music today sucks only listen to commerical radio and have no idea what's going on in the real world of music.

14. Um, yeah. #13 demonstrated the next thing: I love a good rant. I read political blogs incessantly, and I pen a rant or two every few months on my own blog. I would love to go to DC to shout down the idiots that run the 3-ring circus that is our goverment.

15. I am an afficianado of Achewood, the web comic. I was Lyle for Haloween last year, but no one knew who I was.

16. I am a grammar nazi.  I became the default letter checker at my last two employers.  I am amused to think that ppl r rly saving time w their txt msgs by eliminating 25% of the letters they type.  It's probably mostly laziness.  I also chuckle at how many instances I see of people using apostrophes for plurals.  "Riccelli Trucking - Trucking at it's best" was emblazoned on about 100 trucks in the Syracuse area.

17. I am also a nazi when it comes to engineering drawings.  I was educated by an old-school drafter (started with pencils and graduated to AutoCAD 1.0 through v. 2009), and taught me what goes into a good set of drawings.  Since I left that office, no one that I've worked for has produced as good of a set of drawings as I used to.

18. I am not that much of a handyman.  Karen and I bought an old house thinking we'd be able to spruce it up, but I find that I get frustrated quickly.  It doesn't help that those who owned the place before us botched their work worse than I do...

19. I've only been west of the Mississippi once, for a college design contest.  I'm planning to make that twice when I go to see Eric.

20. I came pretty close to flunking out of college, with 2 C's, a D and 2 F's in the spring of sophomore year.  Following a re-thinking of priorities, I ended college on the Dean's list.

21. I love winter.  Part of the reason I moved to Vermont was to get more intense cold, and more intense snowfalls.  The capitol district just wasn't cutting it.  I don't want to see soggy, brown ground in early March.

22. I have a pretty good sense of direction.  Take to a place once, and I will likely be able to get there again without too much difficulty.

23. I have gone on an annual camping trip with my dad every year since the 7th grade.  There have been a few years when it was a chore, but now I look forward to it.  We've explored a lot of the canoeable areas of the northeast.

24. I have a tendency to lose stuff.  Part of the reason I don't wear a watch is because of my horrid track record losing watches (I still miss that calculator watch I lost in high school).  "Where are my keys?" is a common morning question Karen gets asked.  Boy is she patient.

25. I have turned into a cat person thanks to my college roommate's cat Kino.  Kino rocks, except for that time he sprayed onto my shoes.

I will not force anyone to do this on account of me tagging them. So there.

New Jacob Fred Album Released

The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, a great, great jazz trio, has released a new album. They're doing it In Rainbows style, with a download from their website. Send your email address to them and you'll get the download link .

Only did a once-thru of it, but I noted that it has a couple of tunes from their last album, "Lil' Tae Rides Again" (also highly recommended, especially for fans of electronic music. An excellent melding of the jazz sensibility and electronic manipulation). This is definitely a less processed album, but more instrumentation (banjos, different types of pianos, guitars) than the bass/drums/electric piano I've come to expect from them. Other songs are ones that have been played on the second sets of their summer tour.

Did Obama just do something crafty?

So everyone that I read on the intertubes is getting impatient/angry with Obama, not seeing him move fast enough, hit the Republicans hard enough, and designing a bailout bill with GOP-requested tax cuts.

I've tried to be patient. Maybe he's doing this just to deliver on a promise he made in the campaign. If the country sees that zero GOP house members voted for the stimulus bill after all the glad-handling he did, hopefully most will clue into the idea that it isn't the Democrats that are being unreasonable.

Regardless, I read this a bit earlier and chuckled:

The Obama administration has been floating the idea of naming Republican Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) to be Commerce Secretary, several Senate sources said Thursday.

In case you forgot, the original nominee, NM Gov Bill Richardson, had to withdraw his name after a criminal probe in California released his name. So, this spot's still open. Also, keep in mind that NH's governor is a democrat, and will pick Gregg's successor if he takes the post. That would equal 60 votes (once Frankin is certified).

Funny timing, don't you think? Oh yes, and the senate is just starting to take up the stimulus bill.

Video Time: Must-See Starcraft

Key moments:

9:00 - 9:35

13:00 - 15:00 (commentary on tactics followed by epic fail. with bonus "hero" drone at 14:00)

Economist: Forget the Recession, This Is a Depression

Sent to you via Google Reader

Economist: Forget the Recession, This Is a Depression

With this morning's news that employers laid off 524,000 workers in December, at least one prominent economist has some news of his own: "The economy is the jaws of a depression," Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland, wrote to reporters this morning.

What's the criterion? Morici claims it's this: Recessions correct themselves, while depressions do not.

Recessions are like stock market corrections—after a time, equity prices rebound without government intervention. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and stimulus tax rebates and spending have shortened the lives and eased the impact of post-World War II recessions, but those policies did not end them. The economy self corrected.

By contrast, Morici writes, the troubles soon to be inherited by President-elect Barack Obama are more structural, stemming from "bad management practices at the large money center banks and the huge foreign trade deficit. These problems are not self-correcting."

Trouble is, Morici adds, an enormous spending package alone won't fix the problem.

The economy will not recover without fundamental changes in banking and trade policy. A large stimulus package, though necessary, will only give the economy a temporary lift but then unemployment will rise again and continue at unacceptable levels indefinitely without successively larger stimulus packages and huge federal budget deficits. The economy is a depression, not a recession.

The forecast lends truth to that great Onion headline that followed the election: "Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job."

John Brennan Is Set to Be Really Powerful

Sent to you via Google Reader

John Brennan Is Set to Be Really Powerful

Everyone in the blogosphere — Glenn, I'm looking in your direction — who may have thought that John Brennan was kneecapped just because he didn't become CIA director should check out what President-elect Barack Obama had to say about Brennan during the Blair/Panetta rollout:

I'm pleased to announce that John Brennan – a close advisor, CIA veteran and former leader of the National Counter-Terrorism Center  – will be my Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism, serving with the rank of Assistant to the President.  John has the experience, vision and integrity to advance America's security.

The point isn't just that Obama hugged Brennan. ("A close advisor… experience, vision and integrity.") Assistant to the President" is the highest rank that any White House staffer can hold. Anyone with that rank has the right to walk into the Oval Office and get a sit-down with the president. At the beginning of the Bush administration, Dick Cheney fought to ensure that Scooter Libby held that rank.

Now, what'll that mean? At a minimum, it'll mean that when Obama is unsure of something he's hearing from CIA, or from Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence, he'll turn to Brennan for a second or third opinion. It's way too early to know — but that won't stop me from wondering — if Brennan at the White House and Deputy CIA Director Steve Kappes might be the actual centers of power for the intelligence community.

Free Day at the Catamount Center

The Catamount Center is opening this weekend, and according to this, it looks like everything (trail access, rentals) is free on Saturday. Karen and I will definitely be there, you should too.

Making Musical Progress

It is entirely possible that some musical ideas could be posted in the near future. Finally have a tool that will allow K and I to do more than just noodle around.