Readers may have noticed that the "Daily Treatment" isn't really daily. Instead, it's daily when I have time to write it, which isn't as often as I would like. And that's unfortunate.
It means I don't get to chance to highlight many worthy articles--or, more important, to thank, implicitly, the writers and thinkers whose work influences me. So today I'm bringing the Daily Treatment back, but offering an extended holiday version--one in which I can give thanks to...
Julie Appleby, Mary Agnes Carey, Philip Galewitz, and Jordan Rau for asking, and answering, the questions most Americans actually care about
Carrie Budoff Brown for her relentless, indispensable coverage
Brian Beutler for being impervious to spin (and nearly impervious to bullets)
Michael Cannon for keeping me honest
Kevin Drum for staying healthy
Austin Frakt for getting into the weeds
Dana Goldstein for paying attention to the abortion debate from the start
Merrill Goozner for telling the truth about drugs
Matthew Holt for "The Health Care Blog," which is precisely as essential as its title suggests
Ezra Klein for being Ezra Klein
Paul Krugman for being Paul Krugman
Trudy Lieberman for being a pain in the ass, as good journalists should be
Maggie Mahar for Money-Driven Medicine, the book and the movie
Anna Matthews for helping people who can't afford to wait for health care reform
Don McCanne for keeping the faith.
Tim Noah for stating the obvious, something too many of us (myself included) often fail to do
Joe Paduda for noting that Medicare is actually, um, good
Ramesh Ponnuru for asking reasonable questions
Uwe Reinhardt for trying, valiantly, to set the Wall Street Journal straight
Julie Rovner for being the very best in the business
Karen Tumulty for reminding everybody why this matters
Igor Volsky for refusing to let any right-wing lie go unchallenged
Matthew Yglesias for refusing to let the filibuster go unquestioned
Jeffrey Young for staying on top of The Hill.
Update: All too typically, I left out a few people on the first go-round. I've now added them (with apologies to anybody else I forgot). And, while I'm at it, let me also express thanks to my fellow contributors here at The Treatment: Anthony, Harold, and Suzy. It wouldn't be the same place without them.