# IMPORTANT READS ## [ Single Payer, Why Wait?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13510-single-payer-why-wait "Single Payer, Why Wait?") Details Michael Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 29 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/052i.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13510-single-payer-why-wait) THE COHEN COLUMN--The good news is that, at least for today (Wednesday, Jun 28th), health care did not get dramatically worse in America. The Republican controlled Senate will not pass, or even vote on, a health care killing bill . . . today. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13510-single-payer-why-wait) ## [ Russiagate vs. Watergate: Not Much to Compare](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13508-russiagate-vs-watergate-not-much-to-compare "Russiagate vs. Watergate: Not Much to Compare") Details Doug Epperhart [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 29 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/052k.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13508-russiagate-vs-watergate-not-much-to-compare) YES, RUSSIAGATE-I’ve been reading lots of words comparing Trump’s situation to Richard Nixon’s. Some pundits say the most recent iteration of presidential campaign scandal and what happened 45 years ago is more or less identical. And some claim one is very much unlike the other. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13508-russiagate-vs-watergate-not-much-to-compare) ## [ Grasping Health Care is Like Grasping Water...Yet We Must Try](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13503-grasping-health-care-is-like-grasping-water-yet-we-must-try "Grasping Health Care is Like Grasping Water...Yet We Must Try") Details Kenneth S. Alpern [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 29 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/052q.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13503-grasping-health-care-is-like-grasping-water-yet-we-must-try) THE DOCTOR IS IN--We live in a nation that has been confronted with "experts" who think they know so much but actually know very little. So if you think you have all the answers, or are looking for all of the easy answers here, then maybe this piece just is NOT for you. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13503-grasping-health-care-is-like-grasping-water-yet-we-must-try) ## [ Kansas Tax Cuts Are a Spectacular Failure. Meanwhile, in California](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13484-kansas-tax-cuts-are-a-spectacular-failure-meanwhile-in-california "Kansas Tax Cuts Are a Spectacular Failure. Meanwhile, in California") Details Tom Steyer [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 26 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/051n.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13484-kansas-tax-cuts-are-a-spectacular-failure-meanwhile-in-california) TAXATION POLITICS-Republican legislators in Kansas did the unthinkable this month: They voted to raise income taxes, ending a painful five-year experiment with an extreme anti-tax agenda introduced by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The Republican-held Legislature had to [override a veto](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kansas-tax-20170607-story.html) by the governor to pass the emergency tax increase, now crucial to prevent deep budget cuts for schools and other essential public services. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13484-kansas-tax-cuts-are-a-spectacular-failure-meanwhile-in-california) ## [ Netanyahu to American Jews: Drop Dead](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13481-netanyahu-to-american-jews-drop-dead "Netanyahu to American Jews: Drop Dead") Details Chemi Shalev [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 26 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/051q.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13481-netanyahu-to-american-jews-drop-dead) GUEST PERSPECTIVE--You can almost feel sorry for Reform and Conservative Jews. After all, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bamboozled them, led them up the garden path and took them for a ride. He once waxed lyrical about how important they are to him, how critical the relationship between Israel and American Jews is, how he has their best interests at heart and so forth and blah blah. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13481-netanyahu-to-american-jews-drop-dead) ## [ Robocalls, Fake Sales Letters and Liars … Who to Believe?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13478-robocalls-fake-sales-letters-and-liars-who-to-believe "Robocalls, Fake Sales Letters and Liars … Who to Believe?") Details Leonard Isenberg [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 26 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/051w.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13478-robocalls-fake-sales-letters-and-liars-who-to-believe) PONDERING PREVARICATORS-"The truth shall set you free" comes from verse 8:32 of the Gospel of John and is attributed to Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate had the philosopher's response in verse John 18:38: "What is truth?" [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13478-robocalls-fake-sales-letters-and-liars-who-to-believe) ## [ ACA Cutoff Date Missed … Dems, GOP Point Fingers](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13469-aca-cutoff-date-missed-dems-gop-point-fingers "ACA Cutoff Date Missed … Dems, GOP Point Fingers") Details Tony Butka [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 22 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/050c.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13469-aca-cutoff-date-missed-dems-gop-point-fingers) EASTSIDER-Largely uncovered by our 24/7 news media, Wednesday, June 21 marked a critical date for next year’s health care premiums under the Affordable Health Care Act. The 21st is the *revised* cut off for health insurers to say whether or not they will participate in the ACA Marketplaces, which are federally subsidized, and what their premium increases will be for 2018. It’s a very big deal, since millions and millions of people are enrolled in these plans. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13469-aca-cutoff-date-missed-dems-gop-point-fingers) ## [ The Donald: Under His Own Bus](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13457-the-donald-under-his-own-bus "The Donald: Under His Own Bus") Details Michael Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 22 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/050s.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13457-the-donald-under-his-own-bus) THE COHEN COLUMN--Trump has always cultivated the reputation of been excessively vengeful. Back in New York he would brag about getting even, multiple times over, against anyone he perceived to have slighted him. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13457-the-donald-under-his-own-bus) ## [ The Opioid Crisis in Black and White](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13456-the-opioid-crisis-in-black-and-white "The Opioid Crisis in Black and White") Details Earl Ofari Hutchinson [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 22 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/050t.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13456-the-opioid-crisis-in-black-and-white) URBAN PERSPECTIVE-On March 29, 2017, the mood at the White House was somber when #45 Trump signed an executive order establishing a commission charged with making recommendations on dealing with the opioid crisis. At the signing, all the talk by Trump and other administration officials was about a big ramp up in treatment, counseling, addiction recovery programs, and health services to alleviate the crisis. They and the media used the term, “epidemic.” This suggested that it’s an illness, a sickness, a condition, but not a criminal offense. There was not one word from Trump or White House officials at the signing about more arrests, tougher sentencing and incarceration for offenders. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13456-the-opioid-crisis-in-black-and-white) ## [ Unwanted Influence: The Real Cost of PBS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13455-unwanted-influence-the-real-cost-of-pbs "Unwanted Influence: The Real Cost of PBS") Details Leonard Isenberg [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 22 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/050u.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13455-unwanted-influence-the-real-cost-of-pbs) COMMUNICATION POLITICS-Anyone listening to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) can hear no more insightful, well-produced, or entertaining news programming anywhere...except when it comes to reporting anything that might contradict the perceived financial or political interests of one of NPR's large corporate/foundation donors. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13455-unwanted-influence-the-real-cost-of-pbs) ## [ What’s Really Behind the Dem’s Special Election Losses?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13452-what-s-really-behind-the-dem-s-special-election-losses "What’s Really Behind the Dem’s Special Election Losses?") Details Peter Dreier [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 22 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/050x.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13452-what-s-really-behind-the-dem-s-special-election-losses) SPECIAL ELECTION POST-MORTEM-Democrats around the country were hopeful that they could win two special elections Tuesday in what had long been “safe” Republican districts in Georgia and South Carolina. Instead, both Democratic candidates — Jon Ossoff and Archie Parnell (photo above) — narrowly lost. Why did they lose? [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13452-what-s-really-behind-the-dem-s-special-election-losses) ## [ An Assault Weapon in Civilian Hands is a Massacre in the Making](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13447-an-assault-weapon-in-civilian-hands-is-a-massacre-in-the-making "An Assault Weapon in Civilian Hands is a Massacre in the Making") Details Michael N. Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 19 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/049f.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13447-an-assault-weapon-in-civilian-hands-is-a-massacre-in-the-making) THE COHEN COLUMN-We condemn without equivocation the shooting of Representative Steve Scalise and three others last week. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13447-an-assault-weapon-in-civilian-hands-is-a-massacre-in-the-making) ## [ Humpty Trumpty](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13445-humpty-trumpty "Humpty Trumpty") Details Christopher Brauchli [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 19 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/049h.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13445-humpty-trumpty) SEMANTICS, SCHEMANTICS-*“‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master-that’s all.’”* — *Through the Looking Glass,* Lewis Carroll. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13445-humpty-trumpty) ## [ Who’s Secretly Buying Trump Properties?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13434-who-s-secretly-buying-trump-properties "Who’s Secretly Buying Trump Properties?") Details Digby [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 19 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/049u.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13434-who-s-secretly-buying-trump-properties) BUSINESS & POLITICS--[I'm sure this means nothing, nothing at all:](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/06/13/trump-property-buyers-make-clear-shift-secretive-llcs/102399558/) [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13434-who-s-secretly-buying-trump-properties) ## [ Ride Out the Tweet Storms … and Get Ready to Vote!](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13413-ride-out-the-tweet-storms-and-get-ready-to-vote "Ride Out the Tweet Storms … and Get Ready to Vote!") Details Michael N. Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 15 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/048s.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13413-ride-out-the-tweet-storms-and-get-ready-to-vote) THE COHEN COLUMN-Never mind the man waving his arms behind the curtain, the White House now says. After telling us over and over that Trump's tweets are the most important channel of communication he's got, not sullied by the "filter" of the "lying" news media, now it's pay no attention when he insists on Twitter that his travel ban was always and forever will be a ban…a Muslim ban. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13413-ride-out-the-tweet-storms-and-get-ready-to-vote) ## [ Sarah Palin Didn't Shoot Gabby Giffords, Bernie Sanders Didn't Shoot Steve Scalise, and Other No-Brainers](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13412-sarah-palin-didn-t-shoot-gabby-giffords-bernie-sanders-didn-t-shoot-steve-scalise-and-other-no-brainers "Sarah Palin Didn't Shoot Gabby Giffords, Bernie Sanders Didn't Shoot Steve Scalise, and Other No-Brainers") Details Kenneth S. Alpern [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 15 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/048t.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13412-sarah-palin-didn-t-shoot-gabby-giffords-bernie-sanders-didn-t-shoot-steve-scalise-and-other-no-brainers) ALPERN AT LARGE--From the bottom of my heart, I would rather [write about transportation](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php/los-angeles/13361-do-we-want-to-improve-la-transportation-or-just-spend-money-on-it) because it's relatively non-partisan, more meaningful to our daily lives, and speaks to our collective vision and aspirations. Ditto with Planning, Homelessness and Health Care. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13412-sarah-palin-didn-t-shoot-gabby-giffords-bernie-sanders-didn-t-shoot-steve-scalise-and-other-no-brainers) ## [ Sort of, Kind of, Maybe Executive Privilege?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13393-sort-of-kind-of-maybe-executive-privilege "Sort of, Kind of, Maybe Executive Privilege?") Details Michael N. Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 12 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/047p.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13393-sort-of-kind-of-maybe-executive-privilege) THE COHEN COLUMN-I was listening to the Senate hearing last week where Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and NSA Director Mike Rogers both refused to admit that Donald Trump had requested they intervene to stop the FBI's Russian collusion investigation. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13393-sort-of-kind-of-maybe-executive-privilege) ## [ Trump Says Qatar Funds Terror … Here’s His Record of Trying to Get Qater to Fund Him](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13391-trump-says-qatar-funds-terror-here-s-his-record-of-trying-to-get-qater-to-fund-him "Trump Says Qatar Funds Terror … Here’s His Record of Trying to Get Qater to Fund Him") Details Clayton Swisher [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 12 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/047r.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13391-trump-says-qatar-funds-terror-here-s-his-record-of-trying-to-get-qater-to-fund-him) INSIDER--[Donald Trump](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/donald-trump), his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner all repeatedly sought financing for various investments in recent years from leading figures in Qatar, according to sources with direct knowledge of the meetings. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13391-trump-says-qatar-funds-terror-here-s-his-record-of-trying-to-get-qater-to-fund-him) ## [ A Life Without Parole Sentence – not the Death Penalty – for Hitler](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13385-a-life-without-parole-sentence-not-the-death-penalty-for-hitler "A Life Without Parole Sentence – not the Death Penalty – for Hitler") Details Stephen Cooper [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 08 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/046c.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13385-a-life-without-parole-sentence-not-the-death-penalty-for-hitler) DEATH PENALTY POLITICS-In a [blood-thirsty column](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-give-capital-punishment-a-reprieve-1496095841) clamoring for faster executions in the United States, John Steele Gordon, a writer specializing in financial and business history, asserts: “Had Hitler been captured alive, would anyone have suggested life without parole?” [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13385-a-life-without-parole-sentence-not-the-death-penalty-for-hitler) ## [ Can We Find a Cure for the Infected Body Politic?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13382-can-we-find-a-cure-for-the-infected-body-politic "Can We Find a Cure for the Infected Body Politic?") Details Leonard Isenberg [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 08 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/046g.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13382-can-we-find-a-cure-for-the-infected-body-politic) DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY-Whether dealing with the human body or the [body politic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_politic), comparable rules apply. If a threat of sickness and dysfunction is present in either system, look out. Whether it be the normal T-cell immune response to the invasion of the human body by foreign “infections” that cause disease or death if left unchecked, or if it involves the checks and balances immune response built into our Constitution to limit power, both instances involve the dismantling of normally functioning immune system responses. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13382-can-we-find-a-cure-for-the-infected-body-politic) ## [ Stop Saying That Muslims Invented Terrorism](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13374-stop-saying-that-muslims-invented-terrorism "Stop Saying That Muslims Invented Terrorism") Details Ben Carrington [IMPORTANT READS](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads) June 08 2017 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/June-2017/046s.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13374-stop-saying-that-muslims-invented-terrorism) VOICES--If right-wing pundits are to be believed, the recent tragic bombing of the Manchester Arena and this weekend's attack in London represent the latest episodes in a distinct form of violence previously unknown to Europe. The idea that terrorism is new to Europe overlooks a number of facts, not least that [the very word](https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2015/jan/27/is-it-time-to-stop-using-the-word-terrorist) was invented in France—*terrorisme* being associated with the Jacobins coming to power and the French State's subsequent Reign of Terror in the 1790s. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13374-stop-saying-that-muslims-invented-terrorism) 1. [ Cosby Racially Targeted? That Pass Ran Out Long Ago](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13362-cosby-racially-targeted-that-pass-ran-out-long-ago) 2. [ Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher: Different 1st Amendment Lessons](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13357-kathy-griffin-bill-maher-different-1st-amendment-lessons) 3. [ Really, Who’s the Bigger Hate Monger?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13354-really-who-s-the-bigger-hate-monger) 4. [ Just Shut Up](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13334-just-shut-up) 5. [ Leaked Regulation Shows Trump Plans to Allow Insurers to Refuse to Cover Birth Control](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13331-leaked-regulation-shows-trump-plans-to-allow-insurers-to-refuse-to-cover-birth-control) 6. [ The Real Meaning of Covfefe!](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13325-the-real-meaning-of-covfefe) 7. [ Who is the Real Leader of the Free World?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13321-who-is-the-real-leader-of-the-free-world) 8. [ Killing Children is Always Terrorism](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13313-killing-children-is-always-terrorism) 9. [ Memorial Day: True Respect for Those Who Gave Their Lives is to Learn from Our Mistakes](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13311-memorial-day-true-respect-for-those-who-gave-their-lives-is-to-learn-from-our-mistakes) 10. [ Montana Elects a Thuglican to Congress](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13310-montana-elects-a-thuglican-to-congress) Page 87 of 116 - [Start](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads "Start") - [Prev](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1785 "Prev") - [82](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1701 "82") - [83](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1722 "83") - [84](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1743 "84") - [85](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1764 "85") - [86](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1785 "86") - 87 - [88](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1827 "88") - [89](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1848 "89") - [90](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1869 "90") - [91](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1890 "91") - [Next](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1827 "Next") - [End](https://mail.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=2415 "End")