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- Ugh, it's as if we're back in November of last year, when Bart Stupak held health-care reform hostage in the House so he could secure legislation punishing women for having uteruses. And just like last year, the House Democratic leadership is going to have to cut a deal with him because they need his and his caucus' votes -- now more than ever because the margin of error is that much smaller. It sure would be nice in this country if passing health-care legislation could hinge on the moral question of providing health care to ALL Americans, instead of having to "compromise" on the question of whether women are to be treated as full human beings or not.
- As if dealing with nonexistent concerns from Stupak weren't bad enough, there's the problem of not knowing whether some of the "no" votes from the last round are gettable this time around. Ezra Klein links to a useful New York Times chart from the November House vote that gives us much of the relevant information about the representatives and their districts but as he says, this is going to come down to a choice between doing the right thing, or doing the thing they hope will get them re-elected.
- Surveying the evidence for the latest grim side effect of global warming, it's clear why it's so easy to cast doubt on climate change: The science is incomprehensible to most people. But then the deniers need a motive for why scientists are spreading this myth. Unsurprisingly, that narrative skews toward the destroy capitalism/world government fringe, and the reason this isn't surprising is revealed by this handy table from Brad Johnson. On one side you've got, well, every professional scientific society in the world, and on the other a smattering of business and carbon energy trade associations. It seems the thing uniting the deniers is their belief that they are the remnant of liberty and free markets.
- Remainders: Harry Reid's chief rival in Nevada wants the government to keep its hands off your Medicare; new Ways and Means Committee Chair Sander Levin is a win for labor unions; the genius of Roger Ailes is that he's able to regurgitate 2008 campaign-era attacks on Barack Obama and pretend they're pearls of wisdom; Joe Lieberman shows surprising integrity on ANWR; and like Fox News polls, deliberately unscientific statistical analysis from The Wall Street Journal is the best evidence for a dishonest news outlet.
--Mori Dinauer
