As The Country Sizzles And Bakes, Krugman Nails Climate Change Deniers For "Greed And Cowardice"

Week after week, New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman expounds on the issues of our day. His latest opinion piece is no different, and calls out those that deny the overwhelming evidence of global warming as our nation has been beaten by the latest summer heat wave. Far from using the recent hot weather as proof, Krugman asks where the voices of those that claim the planet is cooling went; now that their faulty logic has broken down like many an overtaxed air conditioning unit. The undeniable proof is out there for anyone that wants a science-based education in global warming, but Krugman uses this piece to give a go at the root cause for all the deniers out there.

From The N.Y. Times:

The answer is, the usual suspects: greed and cowardice.

If you want to understand opposition to climate action, follow the money. The economy as a whole wouldn’t be significantly hurt if we put a price on carbon, but certain industries — above all, the coal and oil industries — would. And those industries have mounted a huge disinformation campaign to protect their bottom lines.[...]

Or look at the politicians who have been most vociferously opposed to climate action. Where do they get much of their campaign money? You already know the answer.

By itself, however, greed wouldn’t have triumphed. It needed the aid of cowardice — above all, the cowardice of politicians who know how big a threat global warming poses, who supported action in the past, but who deserted their posts at the crucial moment.

Krugman goes on to describe the downfall of John McCain, who was once a celebrated "maverick" (though he now denies it) who positioned himself in the middle. Krugman aptly calls him out for bashing legislation such as cap and trade that he once championed only a few years ago. Clearly, greed and cowardice got to the Arizonan Senator, as much as it has to the rest of his party...and a few that claim to position themselves on the left.

Dems In Congress!!! Listen To The People!!!

This Democratic senator, and many like her in Washington simply do not get it. They already have federal health insurance and frankly, many are too much like their brethren across the aisle to fully comprehend how much Americans need comprehensive health insurance legislation. The fact is, the current system of making a small number of wealthy people more money by ravaging the status of health care in the nation is not working. Economist extraordinaire Paul Krugman does get it, and I sincerely hope that every single one of these decision makers reads this article in its entirety.

From The NY Times:

America’s political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care. So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system is O.K. And if surveys like the New York Times/CBS News poll released last weekend are any indication, voters are ready for major change.

The question now is whether we will nonetheless fail to get that change, because a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993.

And yes, I mean Democratic senators. The Republicans, with a few possible exceptions, have decided to do all they can to make the Obama administration a failure. Their role in the health care debate is purely that of spoilers who keep shouting the old slogans — Government-run health care! Socialism! Europe! — hoping that someone still cares.

The polls suggest that hardly anyone does. Voters, it seems, strongly favor a universal guarantee of coverage, and they mostly accept the idea that higher taxes may be needed to achieve that guarantee. What’s more, they overwhelmingly favor precisely the feature of Democratic plans that Republicans denounce most fiercely as “socialized medicine” — the creation of a public health insurance option that competes with private insurers.

It isn't a radical plan, in fact, it is quite "conservative" in that people get to make the choice for themselves which plan they like better. Yet the Republicans in Congress make it out to be something it isn't and that is something Democratic members like Dianne Feinstein must learn to ignore. The latest polls show 75%, yes, 75% of Americans want some type of universal coverage. So quit buying into that rightwing tripe and do what the people tell you!

Hey Paul Krugman!

Paul Krugman has a column today about how concerned he is about Tim Geithner's latest plan to bailout the banks by recycling old Bush fiscal policies. Perhaps he should listen to this guy, and take over at Treasury so that we get a more progressive fiscal policy from the Obama Administration.

Sen. Nelson Doesn't Fool Paul Krugman, Or Anyone Else

Paul Krugman bashed 'Centrists' like Ben Nelson in his weekend column for making substantial cuts to the stimulus bill. In response, Nelson had this lame non-excuse/denial:



Really though, does Nelson believe that Krugman, or any human being with two brain cells to rub together buys this crap?

Krugman Talks To Cenk About The Economy

Krugman went on Air America this morning to talk about his new book and the American economy, from FDR to now. It is a lengthy interview, but a great way to hear about the truth of economy concerning welfare, corporations, what made America great and movement Conservatism that has brought us down so much over the last few decades:



And be sure to check out his latest Op-Ed on fearing fear itself.

How Can Wingers Attack A Two Year Old And Her Family?

If you thought that the right wing attacks on Graeme Frost and his family were bad, watch them attack a two year old baby and her parents. Their crime was having the blessing of S-CHIP that saved her life. Paul Krugman and Keith Olbermann discussed the issue last night:

Krugman Endorses Edwards' Health Care Plan

One of the worst afflictions that our country faces is the abhorrent health care system that is in place. Nearly 50 million are uninsured in what is the wealthiest country on the planet and many that are insured do not get adequate coverage. Why is this you ask? This crisis has occurred because of insurance companies being allowed to favor profits over helping those in need. We need a change in the status quo and I am looking to our Presidential candidates for answers.

John Edwards recently introduced his plan which set the standard among the 2008 potentials and the American public will look closely at his ideas and those to follow. Well NYT columnist Paul Krugman analyzed the details of the Health Market system which allows people to get insurance even without their employers offering a good plan.

From the NY Times:

Why is this such a good idea? As the Edwards press release points out, marketing and underwriting the process of screening out high-risk clients are responsible for two-thirds of insurance companies overhead. With insurers selling to government-run Health Markets, not directly to individuals, most of these expenses should go away, making insurance considerably cheaper.

Better still, Health Markets, the press release says, will offer a choice between private insurers and a public insurance plan modeled after Medicare. This would offer a crucial degree of competition. The public insurance plan would almost certainly be cheaper than anything the private sector offers right now after all, Medicare has very low overhead. Private insurers would either have to match the public plan's low premiums, or lose the competition.

And Mr. Edwards is O.K. with that. Over time, the press release says, the system may evolve toward a single-payer approach if individuals and businesses prefer the public plan.

Well how about that? The government can put its hand into the market and save people money on the most important thing in their lives, their health.