Obama likes tort reform now, too

"Tort reform," a policy commonly offered by some as a panacea to the US health care crisis, is now being embraced by the Obama administration. But tort reform will do nothing to boost health care -- in fact, it will kill thousands of people every year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. What tort reform truly is, according to Jonathan Turley, is a way for doctors to have the government subsidize them by capping malpractice lawsuit damages.

These doctors are demanding huge subsidies and legal protections in exchange for resumption of health care. It is a game of chicken being played by doctors across the nation, with their patients’ health in the balance — and it is working.

No More Obama Posts... For Now

Keeping track of all of Obama's ridiculous policies, campaign policy betrayals and Bush-like decisions is just getting too much to handle.

Just in the past week:
- Obama plans to bring back military commissions system
- Obama plans infinite detention for prisoners on US soil without trial
- Obama does a 180, refuses to release more torture photots
- Obama makes absurd claims about healthcare that even healthcare executives refute

For the time being, I will defer to the following blogs about this subject:
http://dissentingjustice.blogspot.com/
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
http://jonathanturley.org/

Obama administration tries to block release of torture memos

In another bout of political CYA, current senior national security aide John Brennan, who played a prominent role in the past administration's intelligence efforts, is trying to block publication of torture memos that will likely implicate many in the current and former administrations. As Turley notes, the only person that can break this blockade is Obama, who will now have to personally order the documents to be released.

Time to show what you're made of, Barack. The right thing to do is release these memos, even if (and especially if) it will trigger a war crimes investigation that brings nearly the whole government under scrutiny.

Update: More on Greenwald

Obama administration doesn't actually think the omnipresent, everlasting war on terror is a bad idea

In fact, they quite support it. For the sad truth, one only needs to read Turley's post Top Obama Aides Embrace Bush's War on Terror Rhetoric and Enemy Combatant Policy. Harvard Law Dean Elena Kagan, Obama’s Solicitor General nominee, believes that we are both 1) at war and 2) the whole world is part of our 'battlefield.' Disgusting (and, as we might note, quite antithetical to any kind of 'change').

Obama administration doesn't actually like restraints on presidential power

From Turley:

Literally days after proclaiming that change had come to “signing statements” with a new policy, President Obama has issued a very Bush-like signing statement with his signing of the appropriations bill. The signing statement reserves the right to treat literally dozens of provisions as presumptively unconstitutional.
...
That particular provision is troubling to me as a constitutional matter. The Framers expressly gave Congress the power of the purse as a check and balance on executive authority. The use of appropriations to restrict “foreign entanglements” and “adventures” was well-accepted. This has a true Bush-like quality as a signing statement.

Looks like not much has changed from the past administration to this one...

US Using Viagra in Afghanistan to win over Warlords

The CIA and US military are using Viagra as a bribe to win over Afghani warlords. This is sick for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that taxpayer money is being used to perpetuate traditional Afghani cultures of polygamy, forced marriage and child rape. Awesome. Also see another Turley post on the subject of the plight of Afghani women.