From TIME’s Pentagon Correspondent, Mark Thompson, who also happens to hail from the Nutmeg State:
Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat seeking to succeed Christopher Dodd in the U.S. Senate, did a lot more fighting over Vietnam Tuesday than he ever did inside the country. That’s because, despite his claims to the contrary, he
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Today is primary day in Nebraska and West Virginia. There’s really only one race worth watching here, but it could be a doozy: West Virginia Rep. Allan Mollohan, a 14-term Democrat, is facing one of the toughest primaries of his career. Mollohan, who is in perennial trouble with the Ethics Committee for his profligate porking, is being …
UPDATE: Double posted on Jay, see above.
The Senate scattered to the four winds this afternoon, leaving unfinished work on a $9.2 billion bill to extend for one-month unemployment benefits. This will not make for a restful two-week recess for exhausted lawmakers as some of the benefits begin to run out April 5 – the day after Easter. Barring any kidnapped girls or celebrity …
Take a good look around, Democrats, this is likely to be as bad as it’s going to get. As Kate Pickert and I note in a story out today on time.com, the 24-hour cable net cycle has been stuck on ugly process maneuverings in the vacuum of no score from the Congressional Budget Office and no bill. This meme just adds to the back room aura …
Not to beat a dead horse, but Republicans continue to write ominous memos and give cryptic quotes about the political danger House Democrats face if they pass the Senate health bill. They’re publicly naming names now in an effort to scare wavering or vulnerable House Democrats into voting against the bill. (Steve Driehaus and Nick …
As always, Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles nails it brilliantly:
Today’s speech by President Obama was not the first in which he’s urged passage of comprehensive health care reform, but he’s hoping it will be his last. We’ll see.
Flanked by health care workers and wearing a bipartisan purple tie – a rarity for him – President Obama delivered remarks that carried a theme of finality. …
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has not gotten a lot of good press recently. The stinging loss of Ted Kennedy’s seat to Scott Brown, the failure to recruit promising prospects such as Beau Biden and the spate of high-profile retirements from the upper chamber have all taken a toll on the group’s image. The legacy of Chuck …
The plot thickens. Greg Sargent catches that Chuck Schumer just signed on to the push for Senate Democrats to pass a public option via reconciliation. (See my earlier very skeptical post on this topic in which I agreed with Sargent that Schumer’s support for the idea is meaningful.)
And the AP is reporting that the White House will …
I’m not a fan of making health reform-related predictions – especially after the Scott Brown election – so I won’t say No. But I am comfortable saying that it’s EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY unlikely.
But hey, you can’t blame public option devotees for trying. Sixteen Democratic senators and 119 House Democrats have now signed freshman …
Perhaps to President Obama’s relief, Republican health reform plans are the ones being scrutinized now, in advance of the Feb. 25 bipartisan summit on health care that the president called for over the weekend.
* David Herzenhorn of the New York Times sees a way that the summit could be useful, informative and game changing…if …