It really is galling to have Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s bigot of a foreign minister, crowing about Netanyahu’s “victory” over the Obama Administration on the issue of illegal settlement-building. For one thing, I don’t know how much of a victory this is. It continues to put Israel on the wrong side of international law. And it [...]
In her first trip to the Eastern continent and her first paid speaking engagement, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin reserved some zingers for the audience back home. Even though the speech was officially closed press, the Wall Street Journal got their hands on a recording. Ms. Palin didn’t refer to President Barack Obama by name, [...]
While members expected the Senate Finance Committee to begin its Wednesday markup by returning to the contentious amendment related to a White House deal with pharmaceutical companies, Democrat Bill Nelson – who had introduced that amendment – was not present. (* In my original post, I mistakenly identified the senator as Ben Nelson. The post [...]
One of the most fascinating things about this national conversation that we are having about health care policy is the fact that just about everyone has something to contribute. We have all seen the system work, and we have all seen it fail. That’s why some of the greatest insights can come from unexpected sources. [...]
I don’t want to write about John Edwards. You don’t want to read about John Edwards. And yet here we are, nearly two years after the National Enquirer first reported he had an affair with a then-unnamed campaign staffer, and Edwards is still managing to keep his private screw-up in the headlines. According to the [...]
There was one more piece of important news from Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee markup of its health reform bill. As the committee was wrapping up – and after some senators had left for the evening – things got heated over a deal the White House reached earlier this year with drug companies. The deal stipulated [...]
The first day of the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform markup started around 9 a.m. and wrapped up at 10 p.m. Most of the day was spent on opening statements from committee members. But after that was done, Chairman Max Baucus moved on to questions for Congressional Budget Director Doug Elmendorf.
It’s easy to get in the wonk weeds with health care, so here are a few quick and easy highlights from the first day of the Senate Finance Committee markup that ended around 10 p.m.
The only Democrats in their seats when the Senate Finance Committee reconvened after lunch to return to the markup of the body’s health reform bill were Chairman Max Baucus and Jay Rockefeller. The latter had to be back on time to give his opening statement. Over the break, journalists, including me, were digging through the [...]
