Head bowed, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan mumbled (or maybe his microphone is just too far away, but for those of us in the room he’s incredibly hard to hear) his way through a morning of tough questions at a House Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing about how a social climbing couple managed to breach White House …
Congress
What is Happening to the Reform in Health Reform?
That’s the subject of my story in the newest issue of dead-tree TIME, which looks at some of the ways that Congress is already undercutting many of the promised reforms in the health care system. As is often the case when politicians and interest groups get hold of a big and complicated piece of legislation, you have to look deep into …
Desiree’s (sure to be) Bad Day
Tomorrow morning at 10am on the third floor of the Cannon House Office building, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson will convene a hearing examining “the security breach at the White House State Dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The committee will look at deficiencies in security planning, actions taken to correct …
Congress’s Tepid Reaction to Obama’s Afghanistan Plan
Congressional reaction to the 30,000-troop surge in Afganistan was as tepid as President Obama’s West Point speech. As details of the plan leaked out throughout the day — with more than 30 members traveling to the White House to be personally briefed — few spoke with passion: no one – including Obama – mentioned human rights, the …
Health Bill: What Would It Cost Me?
That has been one of the hardest questions to answer, in part because everyone’s situation with regard to health care is so different.
Today, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Taxation Committee issued an analysis that is pretty dense to read, but suggests the Senate version of the bill would, overall, be a good thing for …
Abortion, Women’s Health and Health Reform
On the op-ed page of today’s NYT, Wellesley economics professor Phillip B. Levine offers some real-world perspective.
UPDATE: A Toothless Task Force? Hardly.
UPDATE: Since publishing this post about the US Preventive Services Task Force around 2 p.m., I have been told by the White House that my interpretation of the Senate legislative language is off. This was, incidentally, the interpretation of several non-partisan policy experts I spoke to as well, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is …
Casey, and the Next Chapter of His Family’s Pro-Life Legacy
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey will tell you that he doesn’t get many more calls from fundraisers or constituents about abortion than he does the public plan, death panels or immigration. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries from lots of different groups on several differnet topics,” he demurrs. “I don’t think it’s any different or …
Reconciliation
For months few have mentioned it. But as the public option withers on the Senate vine, progressive groups are beginning to push Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use reconciliation rather than pass a health care reform bill without a public option in it. I’ve heard a few whispers on the Hill that this is still an option, but for the …
Health Reform: 59 and counting… 60 Votes To Proceed To Debate
2:30 EST: They’ve got 60. Lincoln says she will vote to proceed. See update below
With Senator Mary Landrieu’s announcement this afternoon on the Senate floor that she will support the motion to proceed to debate on the health care bill–with the caveat that this does not guarantee her support for the final product–Majority Leader …
Landrieu for $100 million
Senate Democratic leaders are wooing Senators Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln — the last three hold outs who have not pledged to vote for the motion to proceed tomorrow night to start the debate on health care reform. Lincoln, an embattled Arkansas centrist, has been demanding 72 hours to read the bill — something she got …
Health Care Moves Into Full Campaign Mode
I have this on TIME.com.
The Senate Bill and the Public Option
I’ve always had trouble understanding the opt-out version of the public option. Or more specifically, I’ve had trouble understanding why any state would actually opt out of something that some might find ideologically objectionable, but that doesn’t actually cost them anything, gives their citizens a choice, and might actually bring in …