Paul Krugman's Blog, page 620

Hey, we can do this

Yglesias points out that the Gang of Six negotiating the Senate Finance version of health reform all represent very small states - in fact, the combined population of their states is less than that of New Jersey.
So hey, why not let New Jersey do this instead? We can get a committee of, say, three corrupt [...:]

676

Some readers ask why I don't talk about HR 676, which would establish a single-payer system for health care - similar to Medicare, the single-payer system older Americans already have and love, although they don't think it's a government program.
So let me make three points.
1. If I could start from scratch, I'd go for single-payer. [...:]

Why Americans hate single-payer insurance

Because they don't know they have it. A commenter points me to this:
At a recent town-hall meeting in suburban Simpsonville, a man stood up and told Rep. Robert Inglis (R-S.C.) to "keep your government hands off my Medicare."
"I had to politely explain that, 'Actually, sir, your health care is being provided by the government,' [...:]

Markets and healthcare: a startling reaction

Wow. As of now, my post on why free markets can't solve the health care problem has 827 comments; I hear that a diary about it hit the top of the Daily Kos rec list.
And I thought I was just saying what everyone knows. Put it down to the wonkish fallacy: when you spend a [...:]

A great article on the Gates affair

But I have to admit that I'm biased.
Seriously, personal connections aside, I think Robin gets it exactly right.

Kings of pain

Steve Benen is puzzled by David Broder's negative view of proposals to give the independent Medicare advisory commission more power to determine what the program pays for:
I'm a little surprised by Broder's apprehension. After all, the IMAC idea was proposed by the right, and accepted by the left, as part of a larger effort to [...:]

Newsweak and Tame

That's what they were called when I was a teenager. I'm afraid the habit stuck.

Housekeeping note

Comments here are moderated; the Times doesn't have anyone to moderate them on weekends, and I can only do so much myself. And it appears that recent posts have generated an amazing number of comments - there were around 1200 in the queue when I logged in this morning, relatively few of them obscene or [...:]

DeMint offers a teachable moment

Yesterday I was on This Weak with George Stephanopoulos, and the initial interview/dialogue was with Kent Conrad and Jim DeMint. DeMint offered the usual line on health care: free markets will solve all. And he pushed especially hard for letting insurance companies sell across state lines, which he claimed would make insurance affordable for everyone.
This [...:]

Short Jewish guys, continued

Today, 10:30 AM, at Washington's Union station. A young man approached me and said, excitedly, "I read your book on my flight back from South America - and it's great!" He opened his briefcase, and triumphantly pulled out a copy of ... Hot, Flat, and Crowded.