As the Massa implosion fades, Capitol Hill returns today to health care reform with both chambers considering obscure parliamentary procedures in order to pass legislation before Easter recess, which officially starts March 28. The House is on a shorter leash, with the White House pushing them to get something done before President Obama …
2012 Election
Morning Must Reads: “Fiery”
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
–President Obama is on the road again Wednesday, trying to carry health reform over the finish line. The consensus on Monday’s outing: “fiery.” Expect more of the same today in St. Louis, plus plenty of knocks on health insurers, the administration’s favorite foil.
–Speaking of which, HHS Secretary …
“Heidi Montag Says No to Plastic”
I’m not sure what’s more surprising here, that’s the guys pushing for financial reform have resorted to this or that Ron Howard directed the video. But it is pretty funny…
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Morning Must Reads: It’s All About the House
–We’re at an interesting point where both parties are trumpeting their intentions to run on health reform if/when it goes through, pro and con respectively. But I’m very skeptical of Senator McConnell’s assertion that every election in November will be a referendum on the issue. The notion that health care will totally overshadow …
Massa’s Ungraceful Dismount
On his last day in office Rep. Eric Massa seems to have snapped awake from the shellshock of the Ethics Committee investigation into his alleged inappropriate language around a young male staffer which Politico is reporting was sexual harassment. Gone is the contrite politician who said in an open letter Friday on his website, “I own …
Morning Must Reads: The Closer
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Flickr
–President Obama heads to Arcadia University just outside Philly today to continue his closing argument on health reform. There’s not much in the way of new material, but I expect him to focus on one thing: urgency. He’s looking to keep the momentum going for the final push and …
Re: Re: Health Care: Beyond Prisoner’s Dilemma
Okay, Adam, now we’ve got a genuine academic working on this with us.
Over at his blog Cheap Talk, Sandeep Baliga–who teaches mangerial economics at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and specializes in game theory–takes a look at our ongoing effort to frame the decisionmaking involved in the House health care …
Re: Health Care: Beyond Prisoner’s Dilemma
At the risk of wading in above my head here, I’m going to try to play out this thing a bit more. Thinking of the health care vote in game-theoretical terms is an interesting thought exercise, and while the lighthouse story is a good way of conceptualizing the predicament in the House in the simplest way possible, I would note some …
Rep. Eric Massa to Resign
Rep. Eric Massa, the embattled New York freshman who just this week announced he wouldn’t be running for reelection, will announce his retirement this coming Monday at 5pm. Massa said in announcing his retirement that it was due to the return of his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which has been in remission.
The House Ethics Committee has …
Toles on Health Care
As always, Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles nails it brilliantly:
2008 Redux?
Normally, I don’t pay much attention to staff hires by gubernatorial hopefuls, but Independent Tim Cahill, the Massachusetts State Treasurer who is challenging Governor Deval Patrick for his seat, sent out an interesting press advisory this morning. A recent poll showed Cahill in a statistical tie with the Republican candidate, Charles …
Steele Looks to Scare Some Donors, Actually He Already Does
Politico got an exclusive look inside the Republican National Committee’s fundraising scheme for the rest of the year. It seems chairman Michael Steele is going to try and scare donors into giving him cash by fear-mongering about the “socialist” government President Obama will usher in without their help to oppose him. I would say …
Why Eric Massa Is No Mark Foley
Politicos on the Hill are hyperventilating about revelations that Rep. Eric Massa, a New York Democrat who yesterday announced his retirement due to a reoccurrence of life-threatening cancer, allegedly sexually harassed a young male staffer. Dems – and maybe they know more about Massa’s sex life than I do, especially since he denied …