Jeff Mapes of the Oregonian slants his news article criticizing Ryan’s debate point. Mapes, another Blue Oregon lackey shows his partisanship loud and clear.

What do you hate about the plan? And Why?

Other than Wyden and Ryan?

That depends on what the definition of Plan is...

What do you hate about the plan?

I'll bite: how about this: First, it transfers the risk of rising health care costs for seniors from taxpayers to the seniors themselves -- kind of like what would happen if you just repealed Medicare. Second, it replaces the more efficient single-payer approach of Medicare, with the lowest administrative costs of any health care system in the country, with private insurance. That has been tried (with HMO's and Medicare Advantage) and has produced higher costs rather than lower ones. So you take a situation in which we desperately need to lower costs, and introducer changes that, instead, shift them and raise them.

Wyden's latest grand-standing is the renewal of the spy-on-americans legislation. He wants to extend it but only if they do an "investigation" of past crimes committed.

Of course everybody has already gotten immunity, so the investigation will be another show trial for a pretend democracy.

The guy is another phoney liberal loser.

The guy is another phoney liberal loser.

I could kick him past Christmas for his long-ago sellout to the drug and health insurance companies (he was against single payer already back in 1992, and cast the deciding vote on the criminal Part D shoveling of revenues and borrowed federal dollars into the pockets of the pharma companies). But on civil rights and terror and middle-eastern wars he has been consistent, principled and right, and he deserves credit for that.