* Senate Votes To Open Debate on Healthcare Bill * Unemployment Rate Rises in 29 States * Vulture Funds Make Millions Off Gov’t-Backed Home Loans * UC Students End Occupations in Berkeley and Santa Cruz * U.S. To Finance Anti-Taliban Militias in Afghanistan * 21 People Killed in Election Violence in the Philippines * Hackers Break Into Servers of UK Climate Research Unit * Radiation Leak At Three Mile Island Investigated * Philip Morris Ordered to Pay $300 Million to Ex-Smoker * Penn. Judges in Juvenile Prison Case Given Immunity From Civil Liability * Thousands Protest At Fort Benning; Four Arrested * Bill Moyers To Retire; PBS Cancels “Now” * More Headlines…
* Health-graphic-web By 60-39 Vote, Senate Agrees to Open Debate on Healthcare Bill
Health care reform cleared its first hurdle in the Senate this weekend. In a party line vote of 60-39, the Senate voted Saturday evening to open debate on the bill put forward by Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. All 58 Democrats and both Independents voted in favor of the motion while 39 out of 40 Republicans voted against it. At a news conference immediately following the vote, Reid said “The road ahead is a long stretch but we can see the finish line.” We speak to Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post about the vote and the House Finance Committee’s vote to audit the Federal Reserve. [includes rush transcript] * Globalwarming-web Naomi Klein on Climate Debt: Why Rich Countries Should Pay Reparations To Poor Countries For The Climate Crisis.
With the Copenhagen climate summit two weeks away, best-selling journalist Naomi Klein examines the grass-roots movement behind the climate debate proposal that argues all the costs associated with adapting to a more hostile ecology—everything from building stronger sea walls to switching to cleaner, more expensive technologies—are the responsibility of the countries that created the crisis. Klein also discusses the 10th anniversary of the Seattle WTO protests and the 10th anniversary of her first book, “No Logo.” [includes rush transcript]