COBRA aid for layoffs is confusing Employers are confused about the COBRA revisions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said: Confused over whether to calculate a person’s income before or after termination; whether people taking a buyout are eligible; on how to determine a spouse’s income. Many indiv...

There is a Republicans for Single Payer group. Please forward the link to your Republican friends. The idea will seem less threatening if it comes from a Republican voice. There are many Republicans today who are out of work and just discovering the hard realities of the American Health Neglect Syst...

Crossed Crocodiles 5GW or nation building, or stability operations, or proxy war all boil down to these 3 steps: * Destabilize a country or region using proxies * Bring in aid/peacekeeping/stability operations * Establish a nominal new government and train its military to be proxies, nation building...

Obama Wants Journalist Gupta for Surgeon General By Howard Kurtz President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. Gupta has told administration offici...

Greg Sargent I can't believe I'm writing this, but for the foreseeable future this is my last post at TPM. I'm heading over to The Washington Post , where I'll be writing the lead blog on a new site that WaPo is launching. This will drive you mad with curiosity, unfortunately, but the details on the...

Influential Democrat asks Obama to keep spy chiefs The comments in Wednesday's Congress Daily by U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat, run counter to the views of his likely Senate counterpart, who has called for a new team. Reyes said he had recommended to Obama's transition team that CIA Di...

Expand successful Medicare program to all July 30 is the 43rd anniversary of the passage of Medicare. Medicare began because no one except the government was willing to cover the oldest and sickest of us. … … Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan is a grass-roots citizens’ movement th...

I think this is about a local union, but I can’t be sure. Scott Board meeting all day friday, but that never feels like work. We’re discussing healthcare reform again, more specifically the glaring fact that our local has not taken a formal position on it. We had a short presentation on ...

WSJ: Hagel To Join Obama On Iraq Trip Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska will join Barack Obama on his upcoming trip to Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hagel voted for the war crimes commission act in addition to all of his pro-war votes. The moral distinction between Hagel and Lyndie...

Business Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare Employers and employees across the nation are hard pressed to continue paying the escalating costs of insurance premiums and healthcare costs. A business coalition has been formed to respond to this critical issue. All business leaders are welcome to jo...