From all the buzz you’d think our President talks big and accomplishes little, but this is simply not the case. The fact is, President Obama has already done more for the American people than W bothered to check up on during his entire 8 years.

The credit card reforms he spearheaded are taking effect, to the relief of debtors across the nation. Job recovery is well underway — plus a jobs bill just passed the Senate! Who says you can’t get anything through there these days?

So while it may have been a slow start, the overall tone and quality of leadership from the new White House has been steadily improving. The bolder Barack Obama we have seen this year has come just in time for the GOP to have whiplash over the midterms.

I had to come out of hiatus for this.

Byron Dorgan, longtime U.S. Senator from our fair state, has decided against running in 2010.  This is exactly the kind of break John Hoeven was looking for during his months of meandering maybes on the question of running for the Senate.  But if the Governor expects to abandon his post and move to Washington by acclamation, he’s sorely mistaken.

Aspiring Dem-NPLers now have a platform to show themselves off, and the best of them will win the nomination to continue Byron’s tradition of progressive leadership.

It’s been a day of positive environmental news.  China has pledged to restrain its growth in emissions, while the United States and Japan are  planning to hold the line.  But this is the start, rather than the end, of the solution to economic dependence on unsustainable processes.  Groups in North Dakota are holding a kickoff for public outreach campaign in Fargo Wednesday night –  Details at the 1sky blog.

All eyes were on the Senate Finance Committee’s draft bill for healthcare reform, and it seems very little of substance has changed.

In continuing the pursuit of health-care “co-ops”,  The Senate Finance draft bill provides a possible loophole for scam artists to form shell companies to drain away the government’s startup subsidy.  Moreover, multiple co-ops will be allowed in each state, severely diluting their market power against established insurers.

The bill does next to nothing to aid people who want to buy insurance across state lines, requiring “national” plans to be registered in every state they want to do business in.

The bill does nothing to grow the risk pool.  People will be permitted to buy plans that only cover catastrophic claims, leaving the rest of people who opt for traditional coverage with higher premiums than if everyone was paying a fair share.

And naturally, the Senate Finance Committee asks much less of health insurers in general than HR 3200.  Seniors will pay 5 times as much as young people for the same insurance policy.  HR 3200 limits this to 2:1.

The bill fails to take any sort of leadership on malpractice reform, instead suggesting that states try out some pilot programs of their own.

Kent and Max have compromised on almost everything, but with Republican “support” for any substantiative measure evapourating, what have they gained?  I say ignore Kent’s boondoggle and pass the HELP committee’s version through the Senate instead.

After 10 years leading the government of Manitoba, Premier Gary Doer has been appointed ambassador to the United States.

Perhaps a real solution to the intractable border water managment problems that North Dakota and Manitoba squabble over is finally on the horizon.

Reportedly, North Dakota’s airwaves are being flooded with ads on the heathcare issue. I say reportedly, because I haven’t actually seen any such ads.  The trouble with waging an ad campaign in the summer is that, well, there’s really not that much on, and not that many people watching it.  I could stick my eyes to the tube for a day straight out of morbid curiosity, or I can simply offer you my two cents during this monthlong doldrum before anything actually happens again.

The bottom line is this: North Dakota needs healthcare that is local, comprehensive, and affordable.  Local meaning that no one, even in the sparsely settled Badlands, should be very far from a doctor. Comprehensive, meaning that everyone should a health insurance plan that covers pretty well all of their health care costs.  Affordable, meaning that between premiums, co-payments, and out-of-pocket expenses, nobody should have to pay more than 20% of their income in a year for healthcare.

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The steady chugging of wind power development around here could come to a halt.  A new report from The Economist takes a look at the macroeconomic factor that have caused wind generation in the United States to slow its expansion.  Essentially, it’s the credit crisis.  Turbines have a lot of up-front investment and take a while to pay back — something that’s easier to do when loans flow like champagne.

As Senate Finance chairman, Kent Conrad continues to be a key player in the health care debate.  Though the House version of the health care bill is out in the open (just type “HR 3200″ into http://thomas.loc.gov/ ), visible to all, Kent is apparently insisting that the Senate version won’t see the light of day until it is finished from the perspective of his committee, but the good money’s on a cooperative plan.  Though it’s still got that bipartisan buzz, the new options may be too small to matter.

Conrad also clarifies how he shopped around for his house loan.  Take a watch:

Lloyd Omdahl has some sage commentary on our ongoing feud with Manitoba over water issues.

It’s time for North Dakota and Manitoba to give up re-enacting the Hatfields and McCoys and resolve their disputes over the Devils Lake outlet and the 30-mile dam along the Manitoba border. These differences have lasted so long they are becoming intergenerational.

We’ve drawn this out long enough. Time to make a deal.

T. Boone Pickens is throwing in the towel on his Texas wind farm, but up here things are looking brighter for adding new electrical capacity.  Montana-Dakota Utilities has joined a plan for major new transmission lines between the upper Midwest and big cities.