The Hollywood Liberal

Late Late Nite FDL: 700b Worth of Denial Music
Doubling up on delightful music on this 700 billion dollar evening, starting with The Ditty Bops, who take a familiar old sound and make it refreshingly new again. Followed by Death Cab For Cutie, who really know how to find a groove and stick with it.

The Ditty Bops “Skinny Bones”

Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart”

Doubling up on delightful music on this 700 billion dollar evening, starting with The Ditty Bops, who take a familiar old sound and make it refreshingly new again. Followed by Death Cab For Cutie, who really know how to find a groove and stick with it.

What’s on your mind tonight?

Chomsky: “If the U.S. Carries Out Terrorism, It Did Not Happen”
In an exclusive interview, Noam Chomksy weighs in on the financial collapse, the election and the power of U.S. propaganda.

When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think.
L.A. has two options: Pray for rain, or suck off Northern California’s supply. Guess which one it’s going to try first?

RNC’s Clock On Obama’s Iraq Trip Is Wrong By Over 900 Days
In yet another piece of evidence that the GOP really needs to get its online act together, the RNC’s Web site still has their counter of how long it’s supposedly been since Barack Obama went to Iraq, going all the…

Today TPM, Tomorrow the World
Tomorrow’s the deadline for applications for our Fall internship. If I don’t say so myself, it’s a good gig. Certainly a lot of hard work but TPM interns work in the core functions of our operation pretty much from day…

The LiberalOasis Radio Show: Jeepers Veepers! Edition

Today at 10 AM ET, The LiberalOasis Radio Show was broadcast on WHMP-AM in Western MA. My special guest was Air Melber, correspondent for The Nation and The Washington Independent, who discussed the vice-presidential debate, the importance of Sen. John McCain’s unreleased medical records and his travels with Sen. Barack Obama on the campaign trail.

The audio podcast for the show is here: (iTunes / XML feed / MP3)

Video of the opening monologue is below, with highlights and analysis of the vice-presidential debate:

Part 1

Part 2

McCain Flack Inadvertently Accuses McCain Of A ?100 Percent Lie? On Health Care Tax Increase
On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) admitted that his health care plan raises taxes. “[O]nly those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it,” he claimed. Today, McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds, however, contradicted McCain, claiming that it is a “100 percent lie” to say that McCain’s health […]

On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) admitted that his health care plan raises taxes. “[O]nly those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it,” he claimed. Today, McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds, however, contradicted McCain, claiming that it is a “100 percent lie” to say that McCain’s health care plan would be a tax increase:

First of all, is John McCain’s health care plan actually effectively would do wonders for the middle class. … Health care would get better. It would be more accessible to middle class families … What is campaign is doing is advertising in complete falsehoods. They’ve said that John McCain wants to tax health care. It is a 100 percent lie.

Watch it:

Bounds claimed that the McCain plan would do “wonders for the middle class.” But, because McCain’s tax credits are indexed to inflation — and not the faster growing cost of health care — his initial $5,000 offering depreciates every year, forcing families to pay more for their health insurance. As a recent CAPAF report states, the largest tax hike falls on the middle class.

For a couple earning $40,000 and paying $13,800 for insurance, “McCain’s new tax credit would cut their taxes by $50 in 2009, but because the credit quickly falls behind rising premiums that are the basis of the current tax break, the family would pay $1,169 more in taxes in 2013…[and] would pay $2,809 more in taxes by 2018”:

Perhaps this is yet another case of McCain not speaking for the McCain campaign.

Politics at the Five-and-Dime
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Pam Fleck has just finished vacuuming and scrubbing her mobile home into potpourri perfection when her phone rings and it’s her sister, Sherry. Sherry lives over in Brighton. She drives a school bus, likes to hunt and votes Republican.