Supreme Court Upholds Healthcare Law:

The controversial individual mandate interpreted as a "tax," not a fine.  (See the NPR story.)

Republicans now calling for a repeal of the law.

Who Owns the Republican Party?

The Koch bothers bought up the T-party, but casino owner Sheldon Adelson has gone them one better. He bought out the whole Republican party, and he's continuing to invest in it to keep his taxes lower than yours.

Adelson pays a very low 9.8 percent in federal taxes, due to the fact that most of his empire exists overseas, not in Las Vegas.

You might remember Adelson is the guy who kept Newt Getrich's failed run at the Republican nomination alive to the tune of $20 million. Currently, he's spent more than $60 million to buy the Republican party; at least that's the minimal amount The New York Times is reporting. Following the Supreme Court ruling that made it possible for the ultra rich to destroy democracy by secretly spending unlimited funds, no one but Adelson really knows the exact figure he's donated to this point, with months remaining for him to spend from his cache of over $25 billion.

And, yes, it's about Israel too. But he'll come up short there. His goals in that regard are beyond anyone's pale.

The American Business Model:

While politicians tout entrepreneurship, America's business is still best illustrated by the piratical behavior of Wall Street banks and others of their ilk.

Joe Nocera relates the story of Burger King and SPAC (special purpose acquisition company, better known as a corporate raider) in today's New York Times. Investors are sucking out all the profits rather than using at least part of them to improve the company. And then selling out as quickly as possible so that the next group of investors can do the same thing.

It's American capitalism at its finest. A quick buck and to hell with everyone.

Republicans Distrust Supreme Court; Dems Luke Warm:

A recent poll reported in today's New York Times reveals that the majority of Republicans distrust the Supreme Court, while Democrats are luke warm in their approval. This despite the fact that the court is packed with conservatives and Republican appointees.

Considering that the two biggest decisions in recent years have served Republican interests—the Bush v. Gore decision and the decision to allow corporations and banks to buy elections—this may seem a little more than ironic.

The poll, however, probably tells us more about the respondents than it does the Supreme Court. Republican voters look more and more like they are about to dress up in brown shirts. And then, in a truly ironic move, vote for a Mormon.

Facts don't lie, but the people who use them sometimes do:

Like charts and statistics? Thomas Edsall, a professor of journalism, provides some interesting ones in today's New York Times' op-ed pages. The electorate, in case you haven't already figured this out, is changing. Ethnicity and religion show the big changes. since that 35-year period following WWII.

One of the more interesting shifts is that now one out of every eight respondents is willing to identify him or herself as "unaffiliated" in terms of religion. During the period following the war, most people would have been terrified to identify themselves this way. Being anything other than "Christian" suggested the possibility that you might well be a communist or at least a sympathizer.