" . . . any benefits that go to a local distribution company get written into the rate base, and therefore it (sic) gets passed on to consumers."

I'd rather have this environmental bill than none. That said, it's full of holes.

I worked for a state public service commission for three years, and have a pretty good overview of the rate-making process (wound up as supervisor for capital recovery--ask me about Iowa curves). Anyone who really believes that rate-making is a straightforward process which typically benefits the consumers is hopelessly innocent. The process is subject to the very same influences and corruption as Congress itself, if on a smaller scale. The rates consumers pay have as much to do with what the utilities want as with what the consumers need.

Interesting universe you have constructed for yourself. Not credible or harmonious, but hard to look away from, in the way that it is hard not to look at a horrible traffic accident.

So people in the "antiwar left" blamed McNamara but not Johnson? Strange. I protested the war, and suppose I would be considered on the "left," though I consider myself a reasoning patriot, but I don't remember it that way.

Am sure those hundreds of thousands chanting, "Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Actually meant to chant, "Hey, Hey, McNamara, you're the one who made the error."

Was not going to comment, but read so much hatred and ignorance on this thread I must respond.

Any doctor would describe me physically as unequivocally male, and my sexual behavior (and pleasure) is unequivocally hetero. I was raised in a fundamentalist society. Nevertheless it was clear to me early on that I and every other human was a mix of "female" and "male" characteristics, and that those categories are so broad and simple-minded as to be extremely misleading.

The point is not what artificial category you wish to put a person in, but the quality of that person's being.

And for those who insist that no priest would EVER do such a thing. Oh come on. Are priests not human? Do you seriously maintain NO priest EVER has violated the confidence of the confessional, that NO priest EVER would recommend suicide?

On precisely the same sort of evidence, I conclude that NO priest EVER has molested young boys.

Kudos to the commenter who pointed out that evolution does not drive uniformly to a preset goal, but is opportunitistic, and so depends on variation.

Wow, Franken's confirmation has brought out the trolls in full venomous and spluttering frenzy. Which is a strong sign it's a good thing. I'm not a great Lord of the Rings fan, but somehow can't help thinking of Gollum muttering and cooing over the very "precious" which has so deformed him.

Let's see, Terkoy: Limbaugh and O'Reilly are successful because they speak the truth, but FDR is the only man who was elected to the presidency four times because he's a lying scumbag?

Impressive thinking. Almost as effective as citing Ann Coulter.

Couldn't agree more. Currently live on less than $20K a year, which is probably higher than my lifetime average, in spite of nearly twenty years of education, three degrees, a series of responsible positions, and eight published books in sixteen editions (most with major publishers, thank you).

When I read about someone who has benefited from a crooked system being "allowed" to live on the severely reduced amount of $10 million, my first response is not "there go those damn women again." As valuable a service as Steinem has rendered, her assertion in this case is just plain silly.

A wealthy acquaintance of mine once was near tears for poor Milliken (does anyone remember his name any more?), who had been "punished enough." Seems the poor fellow had to live on a mere one million a year. My heart was full of pity.

For three years I was an actuarial analyst for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. We were the ones who calculated the costs paid out and predicted the rates needed to meet them. We were to factor in 12 percent, no more, for administrative costs, less on big accounts. It was pretty basic mathematics.

Time and again the actuarial analysts were overruled by the marketing branch, which had all the power. All the executives were from marketing. They would decide they couldn't sell the rates that the numbers said we needed, so they would unilaterally change the rates. Hardly needs to be said that the rates they offered didn't match reality, does it?

We knew then how sick the insurance industry was, and that there was no significant difference between supposed nonprofits (as BC/BS was then) and frankly commercial companies.

In a very real sense, the sickness of the whole American economy is the same: For decades now we have let the marketing people make the decisions. In other words we let people whose only motivation is making money decide things on the basis of how much money they can make.

It's obvious to most of the world that Ahmadinejad is a thug, a killer, a liar, and contemptuous of the people he supposedly represents. He's not really fooling anyone. I don't know why the crooks and tinpot tyrants always think their lies are fooling people. He is trying to retain power through fear and intimidation, but such power is unstable.

These are hard and terrible times for you and I have no advice to give, only sympathy. I hope you will not despair. I hope you will not surrender.

We may all be dead first, but he WILL reap the whirlwind. Those who have scorned justice may not appeal to it in their time of need. And at least it is possible for us to die with our souls intact. It is no longer possible for him. That seems a trivial thing to many, perhaps. The people to whom it seems trivial are trivial to me.