Those are Nancy Pelosi’s words today on why she wants to get health reform done as quickly as possible. But even among Hill reporters, there’s some confusion over what procedurally will happen this week. Democratic leaders, including Pelosi, are keeping quiet about their precise parliamentary strategy for three reasons. One, if they telegraph exactly what [...]
If you don’t want to hear any more about health care this week, you may have to do more than just avoid Swampland. Third party groups are coming out in force, on both sides of the issue, targeting national cable audiences and key congressional districts. The specific sources of funding for many of the ads [...]
The Senate is bracing for a possible all-nighter as leaders have thus far failed to reach an agreement on the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. You may remember this as Harry Reid’s relatively small $15 billion jobs bill that he introduced after yanking the Baucus/Grassley deal. The House then passed an amended version, and Reid [...]
As we gear up for an election season, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that, for most people, politics is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Xavier University’s new Institute for Politics and the American Dream is releasing its inaugural survey on the state of the American Dream, [...]
As a House vote on the Senate health bill nears, the Catholic Health Association threw its support behind the legislation with a strong statement over the weekend. The CHA, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals around the country, noted, “We expect to see charges and counter charges about what is in the bill and how [...]
The House budget committee took a procedural step late Sunday night that opens the door to begin moving a reconciliation package on Monday. The committee posted what it’s calling “The Reconciliation Act of 2010,” but which I’m told is just the vehicle House Democrats will use to put together a subsequent package of changes to [...]
It should go without saying that the problem with Israel’s announcement of another 1600 illegal housing units in East Jerusalem wasn’t the timing of it, which is, so far as I can tell, the only thing Bibi Netanyahu has apologized for, but the policy of illegal expansion into Palestinian areas itself. It seems quite clear [...]
David Axelrod is responsible for crafting the master narrative that can most minimize Democratic losses this fall. His plan, as it is currently formulated, depends on Democrats getting off playing defense on process, and mounting a full scale attack on health policy if a bill is passed. Karen posted the PowerPoint yetserday. Here is that [...]
