I previously wrote how from a policy perspective I think it would be idiotic for progressives to even allow the idea of changing Social Security to be entertained right now, but it is equally important that elected Democrats realize that from a purely political perspective, refusing to make any changes to Social Security is an [...]

Drop “Aiding the Enemy” Charges Against Manning Add your name to our letter urging Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to drop the “aiding the enemy” charges against Bradley Manning. » Read the whole letter and add your name. Now that three of the nation’s largest newspapers–the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times–have [...]

Even though it has been almost a year since health care reform was passed, the concerned industry groups are still donating millions to members of Congress. From the Washington Post: While it is well-known that health-care and health-insurance providers and companies donated heavily while the bill was being drafted, a new study of campaign spending [...]

Quinnipiac is out with a new poll that shows a very slight plurality of the nation thinks that entirely eliminating the filibuster is a bad idea rather than a good one. This is still surprisingly strong support for ending the filibuster among the public, given that the position lacks a single prominent champion advocating for [...]

You would have to have been f&#%ing r#*&rded to believe that in an era of unprecedented intolerance for press leaks of any kind, that the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the NSA, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Cyber Defense Crime Center knowingly and willingly not only allowed convicted hacker Adrian Lamo to hold on to chat logs that contained sensitive classified information, but to distribute them unexpurgated to the press.

I only see two possibilities. One, Wired had the chat logs before Lamo made any calls to authorities, and was a party to whatever subsequently happened. Or two, the copies of the chat logs that have been given to the press have been done so at the instigation of the US government, and with their full approval.

Of course there’s always c) all of the above, which is what I’m guessing is the most likely scenario.

We here at FDL headquarters have spent a productive holiday season putting together data banks of information relevant to the Wikileaks-Bradley Manning- Adrian Lamo story. It feels like “Plame II, Electric Boogaloo,” because not since Scooter Libby has a story been so full of holes, contradictions and completely implausible events. And the journalism involved (if [...]

Democrats were extra proud when they put a requirement that insurance companies cover children with pre-existing conditions in their new health care law. Now, I bet the CEOs at the country’s largest for-profit insurance companies are even more proud of themselves for easily finding a way around this regulation: simply stop offering child-only policies. From [...]

Ten days after the BP oil rig collapsed into a flaming ball of oil on April 20, I wrote a post about how most of the environmental groups still had nothing about it on their landing pages. Here was the Sierra Club’s landing page on the morning of April 30: I chalked it up to [...]

It appears the crack team of reporters at the Washington Post don’t know how to read. They make the ridiculous claim that the public option would not be able to keep down costs: The decision to permit states to opt out of the public plan is partly to blame for the Reid proposal’s lack of [...]

A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds support for the overall health care reform effort working its way through Congress remains nearly evenly divided in this country. Over the past few months, public opinion has solidified, leaving Obama and the Democrats with the political challenge of enacting one of the most ambitious pieces of domestic legislation [...]