Short List Blog News

If you enter or leave the United States carrying a laptop, flash drive or cell phone, the government can collect and store data without first obtaining a warrant. A survey of business travelers found that 7 percent had their laptops or other electronic device seized by the government Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) defended the administration’s random, suspicionless searches of laptop computers. It took him just over a minute during his opening remarks to play the 9/11 card. Check out Raw Story: Feingold: Bush admin secrecy can’t outweigh travelers’ privacy

If you ever wanted to see how business has successfully taken over a state wide electoral process, check out the criminality and blow back at waxingamerica.com and “The Empire Strikes Back: WMC and Pals at WPRI Take the Offensive.”

Health care is big here at Democurmudgeon, so you really have to take a look at the pdf found at American Progress.org: Financing the U.S. Health System

“Health reform proposals across the spectrum have included changes in how the U.S. health system is financed. This paper examines the implications of different options for financing the health system. Specifically, it describes recently proposed policies including continuing current financing and redirecting health spending to more effective uses, rolling back high-income tax cuts, modifying the current tax exclusion for health benefits, a play-or-pay model, and a value-added tax.”