Emptywheel has the latest on Payola Patty:

In all, Ceci presents a landscape in which the most important players--aside from two Senators who have been slighted in the process thus far--are trade industry groups. And the most important issue for them is the profit they stand to make off of taxing America's middle class to make them wealthier.

I would love to know if any of the private industry sources for the article has ties to Warren Buffet.

Natasha has a great post about Alex Witt of MSNBC hyping anti immigrant and anti-abortion talking points by way of drumming up opposition to health care reform. It is necessary to document every lie in real time. Or at least as many as we can.

But we also have to look at the big picture. General Electric manufactures medical imaging and other medical equipment. They have a vested interest in killing any meaningful cost control.

Once again Atrios alerts us to a Media Matters report that documents the news as entertainment reporting of ABC, never letting their viewers know that Obama was telling the truth when he said that illegal aliens would not be covered under his plan.

So why would ABC News leave that out? We have no way to know, but since ABC's parent company, Disney, has a relationship with a pharmaceutical company, Procter & Gamble, clearly they have a vested interest in misreporting the health reform story.

Once again Atrios points to a great blogger who has caught a member of the celebrity press corps being unusually stupid.

Going back to the early years of The Daily Howler, we have been documenting the atrocities for a decade. And in that time exactly what has changed? OK, maybe a little around the edges. We can stop lies, at least sometimes. Every now and then someone gets singed by a blogswarm. But we have not changed the ability of the radical right to dictate the terms of debate.

Diary of a Heartland Radical

THE ANSWER LIES IN THE WORLD OF WEYMOUTH! Weymouth was going to stage a soiree. To manufacture consent?

THE ANSWER LIES IN THE WORLD OF WEYMOUTH: By complete happenstance, Lally Weymouth’s first salon was going to be about health care.

• "I am not a crook!"

Senator Chris Dodd released the details of his Countrywide mortgages. In a statement released with it he said that he would refinance the loans. But, please, pay no attention to this fact:

"Jackie and Chris have "decided to refinance (their) homes", which seems unremarkable, given that they had an ARM that guaranteed their rates for 5 years and the rates re-set last July or so, I gather. Who wouldn't at least try to refinance?"

h/t to ctblogger and greenpeas, with more commentary, videos and documents available at the link.

Partners, insurer under scrutiny

Attorney General Martha Coakley has launched an investigation into whether the state's largest health insurance company and its largest healthcare provider may have illegally colluded to increase the price of health insurance statewide over the last nine years, according to several legal and government sources.

The attorney general sent formal demands for information to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Partners HealthCare late last week, the sources say, calling for a detailed account of their contract negotiations in recent years.

Via Atrios: Senate Throws Good-Bye Party For Ted Stevens, Gives Convicted Felon A Standing Ovation

For your viewing pleasure we have exclusive video of the evening's festivities.

Behind the firewall: Bush loyalist Mike Connell controls Congressional secrets as his email sites serve Karl Rove

Disavowal is for amateurs. Let's see if the crackerjack MSM deigns to ask this important question:

"Senator Obama, should Mr. Rezko not succomb to a small airplane crash or a massive heart attack prior to his imprisonment, would you rule out either giving him a pardon or commuting his sentence on wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting bribery?"

"If you are not ruling out the possibility of showing him mercy, should we expect your pardon to occur before or after you declare your reelection campaign?"

"Would a promise either way be as firm as your promise to your Illinois constituents to serve your full term, instead of interrupting it with this, your first presidential campaign?"

"Do they allow Unity Ponies in prison?"

Questions, questions....

Russia accuses the U.S. military of involvement in drug trafficking out of Afghanistan

The global proceeds of the Afghan drug trade is in excess of 150 billion dollars a year. There is mounting evidence that this illicit trade is protected by the US military.