American Politics 17

[Shryke]

The odds are pretty much 100% that something called "Health Care Reform" will pass. The only question is what that will entail.

And right now, it's looking to entail alot.

All the back and forth now is purely show and bullshit.

[Inigima]

I think a bill will pass, but we'll see if it's a bill we'd actually want.

[TrackerNeil]

I think a bill will pass, but we'll see if it's a bill we'd actually want.

I think that even the Baucus plan is better than what we've got now, and I think it's entirely possible that we'll get something even better. The House can probably pass a bill with a public option, and I think that might be possible in the Senate as well. Just because a conservative Democrat like Ben Nelson might vote against a bill containing a public option does not mean he'll vote to sustain a filibuster on such a major initiative. Health insurance reform is a major Democratic priority; politically speaking, the leadership simply cannot accept defeat. Should folks like Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln or Mary Landrieu decide to support a Republican filibuster on an issue of this magnitude, for the remainder of Democratic dominance of the Senate they can kiss their legislative priorities good-bye.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Apparently Australia's central bank has raised it's interest rate:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...PjcEpQD9B5I97O0

From the article:

SYDNEY — Australia's central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates by a quarter point Tuesday, becoming the first major economy to increase the cost of borrowing amid signs its recovery from the global slump is gaining momentum.

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its cash rate to 3.25 percent from a 49-year low of 3 percent. Between September 2008 and April this year, the rate was slashed a total of four and a quarter percentage points as the financial crisis morphed into a global recession.

The rate hike, which comes after recent data showed the economy was improving, sent the Australian dollar soaring to a 14-month high against the U.S. dollar.

Will this be a problem, particularly if other Central Banks start following suit?

[Horza]

It would if they did, but they won't.

We've had an incredibly soft landing due to

1) Chinese recovery - we're their quarry. They're back in business, so are we,

2) the Reserve Bank going in hard, early - interest rates were cut early and often from a much higher base than a lot of other developed countries,

3) ditto from the Govt - one-off cash payments and quick-start public works grants (focusing on school facilities) were announced and implemented early and helped tide over the construction and retail sectors, preventing what otherwise could have been mass job-shedding

(in roughly that order)

consequently we avoided a technical recession and the RB has decided that the stimulatory effect of loose monetary policy has done its job.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Horza,

Is this an omen of Austrailo-Asian rise to economic dominance?

[Horza]

Horza,

Is this an omen of Austrailo-Asian rise to economic dominance?

The Great Southern Autonomous Mineral Extraction Zone and Beachside Leisure Preserve strives hand in hand with the People's Republic under

of Benevolent Prime Minister Rudd.

[Elrostar]

Miss Death Panel has had a debate with representative Wiener.

She still seems to be residing on a planet only distantly related to our own.

In a heated and sometimes vitriolic debate Monday night, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) repeatedly called out former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey for lying about health care reform. He said debating her was like "debating a pyromaniac in a straw man factory," prompting intense and immediate reaction from the audience.

"Debate like a man!" hollered one bespectacled, middle-aged man. Another quieted the ensuing shouts with, "This is his speaking time, not yours!"

...

Weiner said the underlying problem in the health care debate, the million dollar question, is, "How do we contain the cost spiral we're on now? ... It's unsustainable."

McCaughey argued that American health care is expensive because it's the best in the world. "We earn more, and we can afford more," she said.

"Is this sustainable?" she asked. "Yes." If we try to lower spending, she said, it "would be a body blow to New York's health care workers, hospitals and patients."

[Elrostar]

Yep, she seems to think everything is dandy just the way it is.