Sweeping Wall Street Overhaul On Its Way To Passage

It will be the biggest overhaul of Wall Street since the Great Depression.  Senate passage and the president’s signature is likely now that sixty senators have signed off on it.

The sweeping reform bill will create a consumer financial protection agency, let the government dismantle large failing firms, bring transparency to the murky derivatives market, and cap the fees that debit card companies can charge retailers.

As with the other reforms accomplished by Democrats since Obama took office, this one was also bucked by most Republicans, with the exception of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Scott …

HHS To Give Incentives For Electronic Health Records

by Stuart Shapiro

This is as close as public policy gets to a win-win situation.  On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced incentives for doctors and hospitals to make their records more electronic.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced final rules to help improve Americans’ health, increase safety and reduce health care costs through expanded use of electronic health records (EHR). . . Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, eligible health care professionals and hospitals can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt certified …

U.S. Now Lags Behind Latin America On Gay Rights

With Argentina approving gay marriage, they’re a step ahead of the United States.

After 15 hours of debate, the Senate voted 33 to 27 in favor of the measure, which was sponsored by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. For weeks, she waged a bitter war of words with the Roman Catholic Church over the measure.

…

Mexico City became the first jurisdiction in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriages last year. Two other countries in the region, Uruguay and Colombia, allow civil unions for same-sex couples…

GOP Missouri Congressional Candidate Says Obama Taking Away Your Chance To Find God

Republican Ed Martin, who is running against Democrat Russ Carnahan for Congress, told radio host Gina Loudon that President Obama and Congressman Russ Carnahan will “take away” the freedom to be Christian. (h/t Raw Story)

MARTIN: …when you take a government and you impose, and take away all your choices. One of the choices you take away is to find the Lord. And find your savior.

And that’s one of the things that’s most destructive about the growth of government. It’s this taking away that freedom. The freedom — the ultimate freedom, to find your salvation, to …

No Tea Party Racism? Think Again

Think Progress has compiled a video that represents what you find at tea party events. Among the comments:

TEA PARTY ACTIVIST1: He’s too black to be President.

TEA PARTY ACTIVIST2: I’m a proud racist, I’m white.

TEA PARTY ACTIVIST3: Afro-Leninism! Coming to you on a silver platter, Barack Hussein Obama!

…

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Retired CIA operative and New York Republican senatorial candidate Gary Berntsen joins Alan to discuss his quest to oust Sen. Chuck Schumer.

• Outrage over a mosque at Ground Zero: Evangelist Bill Keller, who plans to open a Christian Center in response to the NYC mosque, debates Edina Lekovic of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

• The NAACP has approved a resolution condemning what it calls “racist elements” within the Tea Party. Alan examines the rising feud.…

Mel’s Lateset Release: Says He’ll Burn Down The House But Deserves Sex First

RadarOnline has the latest in the Mel Gibson telephone series.

An out of control Mel Gibson demands sex from his girlfriend and tells her he will burn down the house afterwards in one of the most bizarre and outrageous segments of audio obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com.

Raging and panting, Gibson tears into then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, berating her for apparently falling asleep the night before without giving him sex.

And it isn’t long until he threatens her with physical violence, telling her he’ll burn down the house, but first she WILL give him oral sex.

Sweet-talking his way into girlfriend …

Sarah Palin Issues Statement On The Engagement Of Bristol Palin And Levi Johnston

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston say they’ll get married in six weeks, which is quite shocking considering they most recently have been fighting about child support and about Johnston’s critical comments about Bristol’s family.

Earlier this month, Johnston, 20, acknowledged telling lies about the Palin family after he and Bristol broke up last year. He says he’s apologized.

After the young couple broke up in late 2008, shortly after the birth of their son, Johnston gave a series of interviews criticizing the Palin family, maligning Sarah Palin’s parenting skills and saying she wanted to adopt his child so people …

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning: Steinbrenner Was “Smart Enough To Die In 2010″

By The River Wanders

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) takes insensitivity to a new low; he said of George Steinbrenner that “because he was smart enough to die in 2010, there is zero liability on the estate tax.”

The comment was made during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.  Bunning, apparently unaware of the bounds of decency, went on to share other financial musings about Mr. Steinbrenner’s estate tax liabilities.

Some comments should remain in the dugout, the locker room, and inside one’s head, Senator Bunning.…

Mother Nature to Humans, “It’s hot!”

by Stuart Shapiro

Back in February, climate skeptics used the snowstorms to mock supporters of climate change.  The skeptics are very quiet now.  As Climate Progress notes we are coming through one of the hottest Junes on record.

Interestingly, June was tied for the third hottest on record for NASA, but was essentially tied for the hottest June in the RSS satellite record (and second hottest in the constantly tweaked UAH satellite dataset).

Although I’m sure it’s just another coincidence, but Rutgers University’s Global Snow Lab again reports a record low snow cover in the entire northern hemisphere for the …

C’mon People Now; Smile On Your Brother

From: Mark
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 11:36 PM
To: Alan
Subject: For Alan

Alan,

I watched you tonight on Oreilly….

Have you ever heard the term, That dog don’t know come here from sick-em. I’m just waiting for you to wag your tail.

From: Gerry
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 7:35 PM
To: Alan
Subject: For Alan

Hi Alan,

Without a doubt you are the biggest dork fox news have had as a spokesman for a long time!! your suits are like the Jokers in superman! probably appropriate as you are a total JOKER! HA ha colmes , your …