Iran's government bans the opposition party

Boy that’ll sure make Ahmadinejad’s presidency seem more legitimate.

A reminder to all Republicans

Sam Brown’s victory was in no way a repudiation of health care reform, it was an instance of huge support for a strong Republican up against the most piss-weak Democratic campaign attempt since Dukakis.

The Democrats won huge in 2006 and 2008 and picked up some surprising little seats in the past year. The overall trend is that the people want these reforms, but the lack of action is frustrating them. Period. End of transaction. Disagree? Read up. Oh sure, a plurality may be opposed to the current reform, but…

For example, similar to other polls, a Feb. 26-28 Ipsos/McClatchy poll first found that 41 percent said they favored the health care plan under consideration, while 47 percent were opposed. A follow-on question, though, found that many of those opposed to it (17 percent of the whole sample) did so because it did not go far enough. Only 25 percent aligned with the Republican position by complaining that it goes too far.

So, really, that means a solid 64% of the population thinks that we need as much or more of the kind of reforms the Democrats are pushing for. For some more numbas:

In a recent Newsweek poll, majorities supported insurance exchanges (81 percent); requiring insurance companies to cover people regardless of pre-existing conditions (76 percent); requiring most businesses to provide coverage (75 percent); and requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with the government providing subsidies for those who cannot afford it (59 percent).

In reality, the public is, and has always been, mostly behind huge health care reforms including a strong public option (at least).

True, polls also show that the majority wants the bill to be bipartisan, but I’m willing to bet that we all want the bill to have support from both parties, but that doesn’t mean we want the reforms to be cut down just to achieve a split bill of support. Especially considering that the GOP ain’t gonna support it no matter what happens.

So… yeah. Shut the hell up about “Americans have said no to ObamaCare”. Like hell they have.

The WaPo, education, and misleading paragraphs

When I read the opening paragraph of this Washington Post story concerning Obama’s changes to No Child Left Behind, I admit it sounded a little bizarre. I’d been hearing rumblings about these changes and the story seemed to suggest that it would be uneven.

For most public schools, the perceived heavy hand of the federal government would become a lighter touch under President Obama’s plan to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law. But for others, the consequences of academic failure would stiffen considerably.

Really? He’d be gentler on some schools and harsher on others? Why? What’s wrong with the others?

Let’s take a look see.

Education Department officials said 5 percent of the lowest-performing schools would face radical interventions, including replacing the principal in nearly all cases. Those are tougher remedies than current law provides. The next-lowest 5 percent would be placed on watch lists and forced to take major steps. Another 5 percent with wide gaps in achievement between disadvantaged and better-off students would face interventions.

Oh I see. So, in fact, it isn’t “some” schools that face harsher consequences for academic failure, they all do. If any school drops into those lower echelons then they face harsh penalties. That sounds downright fair to me, and it seems like no schools will be treated differently at all.

Now, I think NCLB has somewhere between ten and a million flaws to it, but painting the changes as affecting schools “differently” implies that the changes aren’t merit based. I mean, if a retail store decided that the lowest-performing 5% of employees would face harsh penalties, I don’t think anyone would say “why are we getting treated differently?” The answer’s kinda obvious: you don’t want the penalties, ya gotta do better.

QotD

Alan Grayson (D-Awesome):

I look forward to an honest debate with Governor Palin on the issues, in the unlikely event that she ever learns anything about them.

Wow.