Eighteen Democratic senators have signed onto a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to pass the public option through reconciliation. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, if the Senate decides to bring the matter up for a vote, the administration would support the effort. This as a new government report on our “broken health care system” shows how “insurance companies prosper” as “Americans suffer." Profits for the 10 largest insurance companies “increased 250 percent between 2000 and 2009, ten times faster than inflation,” and “the CEOs of America’s five largest insurers were each payed up to $24 million in 2008.” Let's use Medicare, which nearly every American understands. Just create "Medicare Part E" where the "E" represents "everybody." Just let any citizen in the US buy into Medicare. Got it - simple and right on.

Utah State Sen. Mark Madsen (R) is introducing legislation to make a holiday honoring John Moses Browning — the Utah native and “gun pioneer” who founded the Browning Arms company — on the same day as Martin Luther King Day. Madsen says,  “I see them as complimentary." Madsen said he plans to meet with the NAACP to discuss his proposal. “We’ll see if they can take it in the spirit it’s intended,” Madsen said. Salt Lake NAACP President Jeanetta Williams said she was “furious” about this. How could anyone suggest that MLK day be shared with celebrating guns since Martin Luther King was assassinated?