The Hollywood Liberal

The LiberalOasis Radio Show: A Pleasant Conversation With A Conservative Edition

The LiberalOasis Radio Show was broadcast Saturday at 12 noon on WHMP in Western MA. We analyze the healthcare endgame. Plus, we debut a new monthly feature, “A Pleasant Conversation With A Conservative” featuring my bloggingheads.tv partner Matt Lewis.

You can download the podcast at these links: (iTunes / XML feed / MP3).

Also, you can click here to check out my appearance on The Matt Lewis Show, and as mentioned today, here is Matt’s interview earlier this week with Karl Rove.

Rove Falsely Claims Bush Administration Never Said Iraqi Oil Revenue Would Help Pay For War
In his new book and in recent media appearances promoting it, former top Bush aide Karl Rove has been revising the history of the Iraq war, particularly regarding the issue of Saddam Hussien’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. Today on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rove continued with his Iraq war history revision campaign. Noting that […]

In his new book and in recent media appearances promoting it, former top Bush aide Karl Rove has been revising the history of the Iraq war, particularly regarding the issue of Saddam Hussien’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Today on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rove continued with his Iraq war history revision campaign. Noting that the Bush administration had mishandled the management of the war, host Tom Brokaw mentioned that “the cost of the war skyrocketed almost from the beginning. There was not a sharing of the oil revenue that a lot of people had promised.” But Rove flatly denied that the Bush administration said Iraqi oil revenues would help pay for the war:

ROVE: No, no. Tom with all due respect that was not the policy of our government that we were going to go into Iraq and take their resources in order to pay for the cost of the war. … [T]he suggestion that somehow or another the administration had as its policy, “We’re going to go in to Iraq and take their resource and pay for the war” is not accurate.

Watch it:

Rove’s claim is simply not true. In fact, days after the U.S. invasion, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told a congressional panel that Iraqi oil revenues would help pay for reconstructing the country, i.e. a cost of the war. “The oil revenue of that country could bring between 50 and 100 billion dollars over the course of the next two or three years. We’re dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon,” he said.

One month before the war, then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Iraq “is a rather wealthy country. … And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction.”

Since the start of the Iraq war, the U.S. has spent tens of billions of dollars in reconstruction costs.

Christian leaders urge Congress to ignore misinformation on abortion provisions and pass health reform.
In recent weeks, the number of Democratic lawmakers willing to join Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-MI) crusade to bring down health care reform unless Congress amends the Senate bill’s abortion language keeps shrinking. Stupak began the debate with that 15 to 20 supporters; that number is down to fewer than a dozen now. As Igor Volsky […]

In recent weeks, the number of Democratic lawmakers willing to join Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-MI) crusade to bring down health care reform unless Congress amends the Senate bill’s abortion language keeps shrinking. Stupak began the debate with that 15 to 20 supporters; that number is down to fewer than a dozen now. As Igor Volsky notes, “it’s become difficult for Stupak and his gang of four (or five) to perpetuate the fundamentally dishonest claim that the Senate bill spends federal dollars to fund abortions.” Underscoring this point, this week, a group of 25 “pro-life Catholic theologians and Evangelical leaders” sent a letter to Congress urging them to look past the misinformation on abortion and pass health care reform. From their letter:

As Christians committed to a consistent ethic of life, and deeply concerned with the health and well-being of all people, we want to see health care reform enacted. […]

We are writing because of our concern about the lack of clear and accurate information regarding abortion provisions in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009.

Reforming our health care system is necessarily complex, and the provisions related to abortion, or any other issue, require careful examination of the facts as they exist in the legislative language. We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women.

State attorneys general vie for stronger consumer protection role
In the fight over how to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory system, one of the key power struggles has pitted the states — in particular a core group of state attorneys general — against federal regulators, financial lobbyists and some members of Congress.

Critics: Military trial of terror suspects could open cases to legal uncertainty
Using a military commission to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants for their alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks could open the case to significant legal uncertainty and expose fresh details of detainee abuse in a proceeding that might not get underway for two years or longer, national security experts and plan critics say.

Insurers report on use of abortion riders
CHICAGO — In North Dakota, where insurers can cover abortions if customers pay a separate premium, the state’s largest provider says it sells no abortion policies because no one has asked to buy one.

Curbing earmarks: Even with new restrictions, for-profits play a role
Twice in recent years, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) helped obtain earmarks totaling $3.2 million for a home-state university to study how to make military jet fuel from plants. Standing behind that nonprofit work, however, is a for-profit Chicago firm that often partners with universities to reap part of their earmark benefits.

Obama’s focus on financial rules, Supreme Court opinion could aid Democrats
Despite holding high-profile meetings last week on energy and immigration reform, President Obama will focus the next few months on two issues that could help his party in November: stronger financial regulations and ways to mitigate a Supreme Court ruling that allows direct corporate spending on behalf of candidates.

Arrogance, Contempt and Obfuscation
Colin Hanna, FOX News
» » » » » October 30, 2009 » February 25, 2010 » February 25, 2010 »Updated March 12, 2010By Colin Hanna  - FOXNews.com Arrogance, contempt and obfuscation in the health care debate — that's Speaker Pelosi's idea of transparency.APSeveral public opinion surveys over the last ten or eleven months make it clear the American people do not want the health care reform legislation currently before…

Scenes From the Massachusetts Revolution
Michael Moynihan, Reason
Media Inquiries and Reprint…

Axelrod Threat to GOP: ‘Make My Day’
Byron York, Washington Examiner