Senate Dems suggest they're open to altering health care bil Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill. EPA takes closer look at Massey Energy's Coal Mtn Site EPA is taking a closer look at Massey Energy's Coal Mtn site after mounting pressure from environmental leaders and activists have stirred enough national attention. This comes on the heals of Massey's CEO, Blankenship... Read Full Story

Weak Public Option Myths That Liberals Believe As the Senate takes its first vote on moving the debate on health insurance legislation forward, doctors from prominent organizations for universal healthcare speak out about the myths surrounding the public option. Read Full Story

King Coal Blankenship & Kennedy Jr. to debate environment This is really just an announcement, but an interesting one, as the issue of Mountain Top Removal is really heating up. Blankenship is the CEO of Massey Energy which operates in West Virginia as well as other states. Blankenship likes to play it as if he's just one of the guys, but last year's take home pay amounted to over $7.3M +stock. Read Full Story

WSJ.com - Jefferson Sentenced to 13 Years Former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison following his conviction in a corruption case. Read Full Story

David Sirota at Cody's bookstore in Berkeley, CA June 12, 2008This piece we shot of David Sirota back in the summer of 2008 continues to address the problems we see swarming the halls of government that affect our lives. We are pulling it out of the archives as a reminder of the work ahead of citizens to pull the reins of government so that it will perform for the people and not the special interests.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics. Read Full Story

This video interview of author Frank Schaeffer by Rachel Maddow is worth a listen to if you want some insight into the Evangelical power hold over the Republican Party.It was aired back in September in the lead up to the November election. In it, the former Evangelical turned critic Schaeffer describes the cultish undertow drawing the Republican Party away from what many of us call reality into "La-La land." Schaeffer says he knows of no Republican brave enough to bark down the mad dogs for... Read Full Story

Joseph Cao: Voting For Health Reform Was "A Decision of Cons The one House Republican to support health care reform said on Sunday that his decision to back the bill was driven by his conscience and the needs of his district and not back-room dealing with the White House or Democrats. Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La), appearing on CNN, said that he cast his vote in favor of reform. Pollina Contemplates His Future - Progressive may go Dem Pollina surprised some after coming in second to Republican... Read Full Story

Joseph Cao: Voting For Health Reform Was "A Decision of Cons The one House Republican to support health care reform said on Sunday that his decision to back the bill was driven by his conscience and the needs of his district and not back-room dealing with the White House or Democrats. Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La), appearing on CNN, said that he cast his vote in favor of reform. Pollina Contemplates His Future - Progressive may go Dem Pollina surprised some after coming in second to Republican... Read Full Story

Polidoc interviewed Representative Cao (R-LA) on the day of his election last December and snatched a quick interview with him in this video. (this is a revised video from one posted earlier today)Joseph Cao, Congressional Representative from Louisiana has an independent streak and won't buckle down to Republican Party rhetoric. As seen in this video on the day of his landmark election in December 2008, this lawyer hopes to represent his community even in areas that aren't considered Republic... Read Full Story

Joseph Cao, Congressional Representative from Louisiana has an independent streak and won't buckle down to Republican Party rhetoric. As seen in this video on the day of his landmark election in December 2008, this lawyer hopes to represent his community even in areas that aren't considered Republican today. On November 7, 2009, Cao, a lawyer and the first Vietnamese Representative in the history of the United States, demonstrated his willingness to break from the Republican Party rhetoric b... Read Full Story