The Chucksphere

Title says it all.

On Wednesday the 23rd, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin debating renewing portions of the PATRIOT Act. Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin introduced a bill recently to limit the potential abuses of power and invasions of privacy that characterize the PATRIOT Act as it exists. Feingold and his co-sponsors are looking to safeguard our basic constitutional rights in a way that doesn’t neuter our national security apparatus. Write your senators.

JUSTICE Act Summary

Text of the Bill (S 1686)

Track the Bill

A Battle Looms Over the Patriot Act

About a week ago, Paul Krugman had this to say about the necessity of the public option:

“Remember, to make reform work we have to have an individual mandate. And everything I see says that there will be a major backlash against the idea of forcing people to buy insurance from the existing companies. That backlash was part of what got Obama the nomination! Having the public option offers a defense against that backlash.

What worries me is not so much that the backlash would stop reform from passing, as that it would store up trouble for the not-too-distant future. Imagine that reform passes, but that premiums shoot up (or even keep rising at the rates of the past decade.) Then you could all too easily have many people blaming Obama et al for forcing them into this increasingly unaffordable system.”

—-Why the Public Option Matters

He’s absolutly right. With the idea of an individual mandate the most likely part of the reform package to pass, the public option is the only thing seperating a sensible attempt at healthcare reform from a massive handout to insurance companies. If there is no public option, there is no incentive for insurance companies to become more competitive price-wise, and yet they will still recive an influx of 50,000,000 customers.