Next week, much to the discomfort of the Obama Adminsitration, Joe Lieberman — chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Relations Committee — will begin his investigation into whether the Fort Hood shooter was a terrorist and if law enforcement agencies missed red flags that could’ve prevented the tragedy. This caps …
Republican Party
Let’s See How You Like It
This recess, a Democratic outside group is spending more than a $1 million on television commercials lambasting GOP lawmakers for voting against health care reform. The Foundation for Patients Rights, which is aligned with the Service Employees International Union, is planning ads in Delaware and Illinois against Reps. Mike Castle and …
Bill Clinton Talks Health Care Lessons with Senate Dems
Former President Bill Clinton was the guest at the Senate Democrats’ weekly policy lunch. The subject: health care. Taking responsibility for the collapse of his attempt to pass health care reform in 1994, Clinton urged the caucus not to waste this opportunity. “I do think it’s good politics to pass this and pass it as soon as you …
Dems Go It Alone
I asked a lot of members over the weekend: why pass the bill now? After the August protests there had been much speculation that the House would wait for the Senate to act. Some members said that Speaker Pelosi didn’t want them going home for another recess to face more Tea Party madness (the House, having adjourned very early Sunday …
Who is Cao?
Joe Cao (pronounced Gow) is the name on most people’s lips Inside the Beltway this morning. So, how did this freshman Republican escape GOP Whip Eric Cantor’s hammer to vote with Democrats for health care reform, ruining Cantor’s goal of unified opposition?
Cao arrived in Houston at the age of eight with his parents and two …
House Passes Health Care Reform
The House of Representatives tonight passed 220-215 sweeping $1.2 trillion health care reform legislation. The bill garnered the support of just one Republican, Joe Cao of Louisiana; 39 Democrats voted against it.
The vote, which looked uncertain even going into the House Rules Committee last night, came after the adoption 240-194 of …
One GOP Vote?
After House GOP Whip Eric Cantor promised the Tea Partiers unified Republican opposition on Thursday, I assumed there wouldn’t be any defections. After all, he succeeded in whipping total opposition to the stimulus and the budget. Word has it, though, that Republicans are worried about Rep. Joe Cao, a Louisiana Republican who took …
The Final Push
We’re now in the midst of four hours of final debate on the health care bill. After two hours of gabbing – double the time allotted thanks to GOP foot dragging – the House passed the rule on the bill 242-192 with 15 Dems joining all Republicans in voting Nay. The vote provided some hope for Dems that the final version will pass …
And We’re Off…
The House has just started debate on the rule on the health care bill. Thus far Rep. Tom Price, a George Republican, has objected to every speaker – mostly women Democratic representatives talking about women’s health care issues (note to GOP: the optics of Price bullying and yelling over these women ain’t great). If it’s gonna …
Tea Party Protesters Swarm the Hill
There was a moment at today’s tea party protests when an angry crowd of 10,000 stood facing the bulk of the House Republican conference on the steps to the Capitol chanting: “Throw them out!” Members looked at each other nervously, as if saying silently to one another: hopefully they mean throw the Democrats out?
With this …
Kerry, Graham & Lieberman Launch Climate Change Framework
Yesterday, when Republicans on the Senate Environment and Publics Works Committee boycotted a mark up of Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry’s climate change bill, things looked bleak for getting a bipartisan measure to the Senate floor. The atmosphere poisoned even the most eager Republican for a climate change bill, retiring Ohio …
House GOP Health Care Bill
After months of criticism that they’re opposing Democratic efforts on health care reform without any ideas of their own, House Republicans today unveiled a 209-page health care reform bill. It’s a little more comprehensive than depeicted in this brilliant Tom Toles cartoon. But not by much. It doesn’t aim to expand coverage for the …
A Little Local Perspective on the 23rd…
There’s a lot of smart analysis being written about last night’s elections, including great insight from my TIME colleagues Jay Newton-Small and Karen Tumulty. What do the Republican wins in Virginia and New Jersey mean for Obama’s health care agenda? What challenges will Democratic candidates face in 2010? What does New York City Mayor …
