Ted Kennedy And The Future Of Liberalism.

From James Ridgeway on MotherJones.com:

Ted Kennedy, who died late yesterday, was much, much more than the Liberal Lion of the Senate. He was all we had left. Even in sickness, he was the anchor for decent health care reform. He was the one man in Congress who could pull quarreling politicians into a united effort. (John McCain and Orrin Hatch were Kennedy best friends.)

We are left with weak, squabbling, visionless Democratic puppets and a President whose domestic reform policies are adrift—sliding towards the horizon with each passing day. The lost battle for Afghanistan. Seriously. The British. Then the Soviets. Now us. The phony victory on Wall Street, one bubble replacing another; health care in the hands of right wing screwballs at the town meetings. The very idea that Obama, amidst the rightwing anger of the town meetings, and with health care reform in flux, is vacationing on a huge estate at Martha Vineyard with the wealthiest of the wealthy, is smack out of the George Bush playbook.

So, without Kennedy, even as a shadow in the background, who will it be for health care reform? Max Baucus, pawn of the health care industry? Christopher Dodd, bag man for Wall Street? Lieberman, turncoat? Harry Reid?

To be sure there are decent senators—Dorgan,Conrad, Rockefeller, Levin, Harkin, Leahy. None of them with the knowledge, experience, and political acumen of Kennedy, though.

The flag will be at half mast across the country today. Not on Wall Street, where as the sun goes over the yardarm, you’ll be hearing the popping of corks.

More here from The Nation.

A list of accomplishments is here.

Anti-Health Reform Mob Suggests Painkillers For Chris Dodd's Cancer Washed Down With Ted Kennedy's Whisky.

h/t: TalkingPointsMemo:

These knuckle-dragging mutants are the worst America has to offer.

Chris Dodd announced last week that he has prostate cancer. Ted Kennedy has a terminal brain tumor. This cretinous, corporately-organized mob openly mocked them both.

Astroturfed, staged YouTube events such as these are despicable attempts to shut--and shout--down discussion of health care reform and are funded by right-wing conservative groups and lobbyists bought and paid for by the health insurance industry.

These boobs are kissing cousins of the tea partiers and the "birthers."

I can sense a boatload of in-breeding in all three groups.

Urgent Care.

From the AP, via HuffPo:

Fixing the economy requires overhauling the U.S. health care system, a White House report concludes--just the message the administration needs to help implement a sweeping new social welfare program during a recession.

The report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers says that health care costs--now about 18 percent of the gross domestic product--will rise to 34 percent in 30 years if left unchecked, wreaking havoc on the federal deficit, businesses and working Americans.

Obama administration officials, urgently seeking to build momentum for health care legislation, planned to discuss the report's findings at the White House on Tuesday with leaders of the key Senate committees drafting bills.

"Health care reform is incredibly important not just for the American people but for the American economy," said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers. "Good health care reform is essentially good economic policy."

Critics were quick to dismiss the report.

"Everyone agrees that reducing the cost of health care would benefit our economy, but the administration hasn't offered a credible plan to do so without raising taxes or rationing care," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

(Editor's note: Boehner's crack about "rationing care" is one of the many lies opponents of health care reform routinely trot out in an attempt to blow smoke up your ass. See McCaughey, Betsy.)

President Barack Obama and his advisers have consistently sought to link health care and the economy but they're turning up the volume as Congress returns from a weeklong recess and turns its attention to health care.

Later Tuesday, Obama was set to meet at the White House with Senate Democratic leaders to "discuss the urgent need to get rising health care costs under control," according to a White House advisory.

On Monday, a coalition of industry groups submitted proposals to the White House they said would reduce the growth of their own costs by 1.5 percent a year, consistent with Obama's goals.

Obama wants legislation that would hold down costs, guarantee choice and extend coverage to the 50 million Americans who don't have it now.

Two Senate committees are crafting legislation: the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

The Democrats on Kennedy's committee were meeting Tuesday for a first look at an outline of Kennedy's plans. It wasn't clear if Kennedy, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer, would be present.

Neither committee has released a full bill yet. Both have circulated proposals and differences have emerged, leading Kennedy and Baucus to issue a joint statement over the weekend promising to work together.

Majority Democrats in the House and the Senate want to bring the legislation to the floor by August.