A good article that actually underplays the idea that these progressive "experts" see themselves as employing scientific knowledge to run society efficiently. Now, if those conservatives who don't embrace the history of their progress and those pesky ordinary and unenlightened people would just be quiet, the progressives could stop self-government and govern according to their utopian ideals.

AP: "The Humana mailer focused squarely on the Medicare Advantage program.

"While these programs need to be made more efficient, if the proposed funding cut levels become law, millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable," it said.

It urged seniors to sign up with Humana for regular updates on the health care legislation, and encouraged them to contact their lawmakers in Washington.

In a warning letter to Humana, HHS said the government is concerned that the mailer "is misleading and confusing" partly because the company's lobbying campaign could be mistaken for an official communication about Medicare benefits.

HHS ordered the company to immediately halt any such mailings, and remove any related materials from its Web site. In the letter, the government also said it may take other action against Humana."....................

When the Government wants to absorb your business, you must not object? I've never seen anything like this in my life. In America, I mean.

Every time capitalism has an upheaval, the Left always assumes that the Rapture is come! Of course they are going for all-out socialism...eventually totalitarianism. These people don't learn -- the essense of ideology is NOT to learn, but to rely on fixed beliefs. Nothing could be less scientific.

When liberals, progressives, and lefties would complain, from 2001-2008, about being left out of debates and discussions, the most common refrain was something usually involving "Elections have consequences." and may or may not have involved a smug "sorry." The right's attitude about that certainly has changed after Obama's election!

I was also reminded of this aspect of the GWB legacy, summed up neatly in Ron Suskind's NYT Magazine article:

"In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community? Many of the other elected officials in Washington, it would seem. A group of Democratic and Republican members of Congress were called in to discuss Iraq sometime before the October 2002 vote authorizing Bush to move forward. A Republican senator recently told Time Magazine that the president walked in and said: ''Look, I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you.'' When one of the senators began to ask a question, Bush snapped, ''Look, I'm not going to debate it with you.'' "

from here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html

So you are saying that there is not a bit of difference between Obama and GWB in this? So, really nothing has changed? I do not see that Obama is actually prepared to debate or discuss. He is complaining about being forced to and going much further than making dogmatic statements to senators, which they can ignore.

I don't believe the liberal media.

Fox news is owned by Murdoch who goes to the same meetings and sits on the same boards as the people who own the "liberal media." Its a joke. With the hypocrisy motif I don't understand if your are promoting or denouncing said actions. Substitue silencing dissent for dirty recruiting and this would be the rivals.com college football message board.

Fantastic posting. Fox news already had an Attorney on and what they did was "criminal" and he said, 'a good judge should be sending out an order shortly". What they did was "unconstitutional and a crime". I only hope that means that Obama could be impeached!! We need this 'basher of the United States to be put in his place". When have you ever seen someone hold the highest office in the land and bash that country to ever foriegn dignitary that he speaks too? He doesn't want to serve the people, he wants the people to serve him! He had his chance to be a great "first black president", and for someone who studied constitutional law, he had to know he was breaking it!! Same thing with trying to send money and power to make New York pick "his man for govenor". His children will be so proud of hearing about their father when they grow up! NOT!