As the White House jobs summit gets under way today, here’s a story looking at congressional efforts for a jobs stimulus bill. Given the GOP tarnish on the last stimulus bill, members have pushed back hard at the suggestion that any future efforts might be labeled a stimulus. “I wouldn’t characterize it as a second
stimulus,” House …
Secret Service’s Sullivan Takes the Hot Seat
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 …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Smart on Afghanistan
Les Gelb finds the situation in Afghanistan serious enough to break a pledge he made when he served in the Pentagon during the war in Vietnam. This is smart analysis of, and support for, Obama’s policy from a leading Afghan skeptic.
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 …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Latest Column
On the Afghan speech and policy.
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 …
Taiwanese Press Scoops TMZ, Gets Video (Animation) Of Tiger Woods Crash
In the ArenaUncategorized
Credit Where Due
I’ve just received this from Joe Lieberman’s press office:
Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) joined Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) today in introducing an amendment that would revoke health insurers’ and medical malpractice insurers’ existing exemption from federal antitrust laws that prohibit anti-competitive conduct such as price
…
Five Things The President Will Say Tonight About Afghanistan
White House officials just briefed reporters on President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan. Here is the top-line takeaway:
1. He plans to increase troop strength in Afghanistan by 30,000 Americans, making the total U.S. troop count 98,000. These forces will be in place by the summer of 2010. A senior administration calls the …
Through The 2008 Campaign Looking Glass–John McCain on Medicare Cuts, Now And Then
One can be forgiven for the double take. Back during the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama was the one accusing John McCain of wanting to cut Medicare benefits for seniors–a claim that independent fact checkers called “false.” (McCain had proposed vaguely defined cost savings in Medicare, not benefit cuts.) Now everything is all reversed and …
In the ArenaUncategorized
The Afghanistan Decision
Here’s the most comprehensive, and careful, report I’ve seen so far about the decisions the President has made on Afghanistan. My sense, from conversations with assorted Administration officials, that the big news not yet reported will have to do with time limits for the U.S. military presence–though not a fixed withdrawal …
No Fame For You!
Best punishment for the White House party-crashers and pathological fame-seekers whose names I refuse to mention: no cameras at the House Homeland Security Committee hearings at which they’ll testify on Thursday. Or make them testify behind a screen with their voices digitally altered. In a just and sane world, they would live out the …