Weekend Roundup

Just another day in paradise ....

• Chron: Lee's deal may sway Pettitte, Clemens - Jose de Jesus Ortiz In keeping with the sports-themed coverage for the last week, this appears to be good news for Houston Astros fans. I guess. On the one hand, I'm glad to see Woody Williams (a former Coog) come home, even if for a brief time. There've been a few times in the past when this was always a possible reuinion move, but it may have taken a bit too long. Williams, though still a quality pitcher, is all of 40. That's right ... he's older than me. He's still good enough to be a fifth starter anywhere in the majors, which probably means he'll be our #3.

  Carlos Lee pretty much inspired the following reaction out of me: "Carlos Who?" He's only 30, but it's a Central American 30. So he could really be 40 for all we know. Lee's spent most of his time in the AL, which means I'd have to try and take notice of his career, which I obviously haven't. The guy should fill a nice void left by Bagwell's absent bat and Biggio's decline at the plate. Expect him to hit around .300, with about 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs. The friendly confines of the Juicebox oughtta help. I have to take some time adjusting to the Astros now being "Lance Berkman's Team." Or, as I still think of Berkman ... that punk from Rice. Hey, I made it through the post-Dickie Thon era, I'll make it through this one. Seriously, folks ... Eric Yelding. What were they thinking?

• The final recaps of Friday's big game can be found here, here, here, and here ... among other places. With a bit of time to sleep off the anxiety from the game, I'm recovering nicely now.

• Chron: Former state senator killed in blaze at home - Brian Chasnoff
  
• Chron: Woman drops 2 children, then jumps to escape fire - Jennifer Leahy/Anne Marie Kilday
  Heartbreaking and tragic news for any day of the week here, holiday season or no ... political sidenote or otherwise.

• Chron: Border group's finances scrutinized - Susan Carroll
  This, on the other hand, is comical to see.

• NYT: Drug Industry Is on Defensive as Power Shifts - Robert Pear
  

  Alarmed at the prospect of Democratic control of Congress, top executives from two dozen drug companies met here last week to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate, and to draft a battle plan.

  Hoping to prevent Congress from letting the government negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans on Medicare, the pharmaceutical companies have been recruiting Democratic lobbyists, lining up allies in the Bush administration and Congress, and renewing ties with organizations of patients who depend on brand-name drugs.

  ...

  “We have new political realities to attend to,� Mr. Tauzin said in an interview after the board meeting. “We and our allies will do everything we can to defend the Medicare drug benefit, to get out the message that it is working.�

  Heh ... talking points sure are a high stakes game for some folks. Note to National Review, Weekly Standard, Heritage Foundation, and CATO: clear the schedule for a full editorial meeting! Up first is settling on the argument of whether negotiated prices for Medicare drug plan lead to federalizing health care (nevermind that nearly half of all health care dollars are spent by Uncle Sam already) or that such a process is likely to have no net effect (which sorta nullifies the fact that Pharma will spend millions lobbying to see that it never gets off the ground).

• LAT: Treating oversight as an afterthought has its costs - Ron Brownstein

  Brownstein at his finest ...
  

  Congressional Democrats are sure to monitor Iraq more aggressively than Republicans did. But the real lesson of the GOP experience is that the new majority will also suffer if it views oversight solely as a bludgeon against its political rivals.

  The cautionary tale of how the GOP handled oversight in their era of unified government is one that ought to go down in the history textbooks ... under the examples of how NOT to conduct American government.

• NYT: The Struggle Within - Thomas Edsall
  A little fair use clipping from a great Thomas Edsall column ...
  

  For the Democratic Party to revive, major tenets of American liberalism, economic and sociocultural, will have to be discarded. The party can join Studebaker and the Glass Bottle Blowers union, it can trudge along as No. 2, or it can undergo a painful transformation — without guarantee of success.

  To stay in the fight, Democratic leaders will have to acknowledge political realities affirmed by the electorate in 1994 and 2006. Many Democratic constituencies — organized labor, minority advocacy organizations, reproductive- and sexual-rights proponents — are reliving battles of a decade or more ago, not the more subtle disputes of today. Public sector unions, for example, at a time of wide distrust of government, are consistently pressing to enlarge the state. For these players, adapting to a re-emergent center will be costly.

  Edsall is a guest columnist for the month at the Times and future columns look equally as promising.

• BoGlobe: A healthcare idea with mileage - Scot Lehigh

  Last week, the chiefs of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler went to Washington to meet with the president, the vice president, and various administration officials about the auto industry's woes.

  Among their complaints: The heavy healthcare costs they shoulder are hindering their ability to compete.

  And what did they suggest by way of a solution? Something John Kerry proposed during his presidential campaign: a reinsurance arrangement to pay for chronic or catastrophic healthcare costs, thereby effectively taking those cases out of private health-insurance plans.

  One of the few great ideas to emerge from the Kerry campaign, perhaps it's an idea that will have some life breathed into it come January.