We still don’t know for sure what the final Senate health care plan will look like, but the most likely resolution to one of the stickiest issues has been obvious since early May. That’s when Chuck Schumer outlined his own compromise vision for an optional government-run insurance package. His proposal, a “level playing field” public Read More
Near the top of his latest primetime news conference, President Obama acknowledged that “Congress is still working through a few key issues” as it seeks to produce a unified health care plan. That meant that there wasn’t any specific proposal for Obama to point to and rally support for. We still don’t know how whatever Read More
“He is not an American citizen!” the Obama-hating Delaware woman rages in the latest viral YouTube video. “He is a citizen of Kenya. I am American…and I don’t want this flag to change. I want my country back!” The entire rant is notable not just for the quivering hostility this unidentified woman expresses toward the Read More
“He is not an American citizen!” the Obama-hating Delaware woman rages in the latest viral YouTube video. “He is a citizen of Kenya. I am American…and I don’t want this flag to change. I want my country back!” The entire rant is notable not just for the quivering hostility this unidentified woman expresses toward the Read More
"Fiscal conservative” is one of those terms used by politicians of all sorts to describe themselves, without any real justification. Parroted mindlessly from one news cycle to the next by major media outlets, that phrase is often used to mislead the public about the priorities and policies favored by those who claim to embody budgetary Read More
Asked on Sunday’s Meet the Press whether he believes there’s a need for Congress to pass some kind of health care reform, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell replied, “Oh, absolutely. I’m not in favor of doing nothing.” Well, of course he’d say that. Voters have long ranked health care as one of their top concerns Read More
Not all the attendees of the NAACP's national conference, held at the Hilton Hotel in midtown this week, got into the third floor ballroom to hear President Barack Obama's highly anticipated speech last night. By the northeast entrance of the Hilton's lobby, across from a sign directing participants of the Korea Global Healthcare Conference to the hotel's Read More
Today’s Wall Street Journal features an op-ed from one Ted Van Dyk, who argues that Barack Obama has failed to live to up to the promise of his campaign, that his presidency is “stalling out,” and that he badly needs to hit “the reset button.” Van Dyk is identified as a former Hubert Humphrey aide Read More
Barack Obama's speech last night in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NAACP contained many memorable passages. But for the largely unnoticed mayoral candidate, Comptroller Bill Thompson, the most significant by far was Obama's halting mention of the comptroller's study on the widening employment gap in the city between blacks and Read More
A moment of choosing is fast approaching for Barack Obama and his party’s congressional leaders: to sacrifice the public option that the Democratic base holds so dear, or to stick with it, damn the consequences. Their decision looms as the difference between (almost) sure-thing passage of a compromise health care plan and an ugly, protracted Read More
How many candidates for Congress—Democratic and Republican—have you heard loudly insist that they don’t believe in party labels, just in doing the right thing? And how many of them, once elected, end up voting with their party pretty much all the time? It’s an absurd dance. Voters like hearing about “independence” and “bipartisanship,” so candidates Read More
This afternoon, in her most high-profile remarks yet in her capacity as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton articulated a sweeping view of United States foreign policy, from Iran to the Middle East to Europe. She argued that a greater emphasis on diplomacy, cooperation, and engagement, coupled with traditional power, would strengthen American interests and modernize Read More
Bill Clinton has never been one to needlessly stake out an unpopular position, which tells us something important about his recent declaration that he’s “basically in support” of gay marriage: the issue is fast becoming a mainstream one in Democratic politics. The former president had previously said that his position on gay marriage was “evolving,” Read More
Unemployment will drag the Democrats down in 2010, but by 2012 Obama will be back in Read More
Today's Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearing will be Al Franken's Senate debut and he's just about to make his opening statement—the last senator to do so, thanks to his status as the most junior member of the Judiciary Committee. Technically, though, this won't be Franken's first Supreme Court hearing: In October 1991, he played Senator Paul Read More
