The cloture vote to stop a GOP filibuster on the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd’s bill to overhaul just failed in the Senate 57-41. The vote took nearly an hour as Senators rushed through Washington traffic to make the first vote of the week. All Republicans voted Nay. Republican Senators Bob Bennett of Utah and Kit Bond of …
Domestic Policy
The Call: WellPoint, the White House and Wall Street
This week’s podcast features Michael and Kate. Enjoy:
Morning Must Reads: Green Shoots
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
–As I noted yesterday, Democrats have Senate Republicans in somewhat of a headlock over financial reform. From the Wall Street Journal:
Nerves appeared to be fraying among Republicans faced with the increasingly unappetizing prospect of opposing new curbs on Wall Street.
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Republican aides
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Some Reflections on Being Stranded (Twice) in London
I finally head home tomorrow but before I do, here are some reflections about being stranded in London. Nearly the exact some thing happened to me nine years ago during 9/11, though there are some marked differences.
Who Won the 2nd UK debate?
I need say nothing else. From Time’s London Bureau Chief Catherine Mayer:
Who won the second of the televised debates between the three men battling to be Britain’s next Prime Minister? The current Labour PM Gordon Brown? His Conservative challenger David Cameron? The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, elevated by last week’s d
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SCOTUS Gets an Education in PDA In More Ways Than One
Listening to arguements today on The City of Ontario v. Quon — a case about whether police officers sexting each other on city-given pagers had an expectation of privacy — the Supreme were struggling a bit with the technology. You know you’re in trouble when the youngest guy on the court, Chief Justice John Roberts, asks: “What’s the …
George Pataki’s History Lesson
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YvuyE6gjKQ]
The Red Coats are coming to levy a fine* if you don’t buy health insurance.
As forays into establishing a national TV presence go, this is, um, a revolution in camp.
(h/t Dave Weigel)
*Said fine is:
Morning Must Reads: Ifs, Ands or Buts
Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton
–Obama will make a his case for financial reform “in the shadow of Wall Street” today at Cooper Union. A taste:
I believe in a strong financial sector that helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings. But a free market was never meant to be a free license
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RE: Playing Politics With Goldman
Republicans have been crying foul over the timing of last Friday’s Securities and Exchange Commission announcement of an investigation into wrong doing by Goldman Sachs. Yes, the timing – just as the Democratic push for financial regulatory reform seemed doomed and just as Goldman’s stock was approaching something close to where it …
Britain Re-Opens Airspace
Planes have returned to British skies starting at 10pm GMT tonight (5pm ET) as the United Kingdom allowed a phased reboot of its airports. A quote from the delightfully-named Transportation Minister Lord Andrew Adonis: “It is essential that we guarantee to the travelling public that the airlines are safe and that planes can safely fly.” …
Clinton’s Critique of Overheated Rhetoric
With the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaching on Monday, former president Bill Clinton gave an eloquent speech this morning at the Center for American Progress. Clinton compares the poisonous political climate that sent Timothy McVeigh to the Murrah building and the debates raging today. He warned political …
Fillibusters, Fights, Fundraising: We’re in an Election Season
This morning Washington woke up to reports on how the White House was going to go after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to the financial reregulation bill. “McConnell’s arguments that the Democrat’s plan for Wall Street reform will perpetuate bailouts is pure fantasy cooked up by Frank Luntz in a right wing focus …
Morning Must Reads: Rules
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–President Obama has directed HHS to establish a rule whereby any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (basically all of them) cannot deny visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners, among others.
–Charlie Crist vetoed a teacher merit pay bill in Florida. Why is that a big …