More Turmoil In Inspectors General Land

Inspectors General are supposed to cause problems. They exist as watchdogs on executive branch agencies, and by extension on the president himself. It is more often the rule than the exception that an Inspector General does not get along with the agency that it inspects. All that is proper. The prison guard doesn’t have to [...]

The Week That Was

To start your weekend off right, this look back by Paul Slansky. Though, as usual, we are open to commenters who want to tell us why you think you will remember this week.

House Health Care Plan

The key committee chairmen put out an outline today of their approach to health care reform (more in-depth info here), and there’s one thing they want you to know about it: “Uniquely American,” said House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller. Added Energy and Commerce’s Henry Waxman: “Uniquely American.” And what does former Energy [...]

House Passes Iran Resolution

The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed a resolution 405-1, with two voting present, criticizing Iran for its recent crack down on protestors and communication lines in the wake of last week’s contested election. Ron Raul was the lone dissenter. The House of Representatives expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the [...]

Moving Past Notre Dame

I doubt it was anything other than a coincidence, but it’s worth noting that on the same day that Obama spoke about the importance of “comprehensive immigration reform” in remarks before Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, the U.S. Catholic Bishops called for reform of the nation’s immigration laws at their annual gathering and offered their assistance in [...]

In the Arena

There Will Be Blood

The Washington Post’s increasingly strident op-ed page offers a double-barreled neocon assault on President Obama’s Iran position today by Charles Krauthammer and Paul Wolfowitz. And it’s interesting to see these fellows–among the smartest of the neos–deploy the usual intellectual shortcuts in the neoconservative bag of tricks: Broad, unsupported statements of opinion posing as fact…and false [...]

Must-Read Health Care Story of the Day

In the latest issue of dead-tree TIME, our colleague Michael Grunwald tells us how the Mayo Clinic manages to offer better health care and spend less money at the same time.