We are in the season of high drama where everyone–understandably–is focused on the politics of getting health legislation done. But it’s important not to take our eyes off the substance of what is being talked about as well. That’s why Jordan Rau’s story today on Kaiser Health News is so important. It takes a look at one of the …
Congress
Bipartisan Health Care Talks Push On
Just when you thought the vultures had landed on a bipartisan health care deal, seems the three GOP senators haven’t totally walked away from the table. First, there was the news this morning on Olympia Snowe’s talks with the White House on a compromise and then Mike Enzi put out this statement:
“My position has been consistent from
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Grassley: The One Who Got Away
If there had ever been any hope for real GOP support for President Obama’s health care plan, it came in the form of Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who has been negotiating behind the scenes for months with his good friend Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. But was getting Grassley on board ever a realistic proposition? And what does …
Health Care: Hitting the Re-Set Button
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Harry Reid have now formally requested President Obama to address a joint session of Congress:
Our nation is closer than ever to achieving health insurance reform that will lower costs, retain choice, improve quality and expand coverage. We are committed to reaching this goal.
We would
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Vicki Kennedy Won’t Run
Despite her husband’s former colleagues’ obvious admiration for her grace under fire this past week (former Senator John Breaux — a friend of Kennedy’s and of the Reggie’s who hail from the same hometown — went so far as to tell me that, “She knows the players very well and that goes a very long way with helping you be successful in …
The Unelected Senate
The Senate has never been a particularly democratic institution. It wasn’t designed to be one. Small states have as big a voice there as big ones do. But now we have another phenomenon: A growing number of Senators who got there by virtue of having won the vote of only one person.
At this point, there are four states–New York, …
The Senior Senator from Massachusetts
I had some time with John Kerry yesterday at the wake. Here’s my story.
Health Reform: The Outlook
There’s been a lot of suggestion this week that Ted Kennedy’s death might be a moment that brings his former colleagues in Congress together with a renewed sense of purpose, one that forces them to bridge their differences, to work together to pass meaningful health reform as a tribute to him. I think Ted would have been the first to …
Ted Kennedy: The Art of the Deal
His reputation was as the fiercest of partisans, but his Senate colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, knew a very different Ted Kennedy. Here’s my story for TIME.com on what made him such a successful legislator.
Obama and PhRMA: Deal or No Deal?
Yesterday’s New York Times report of a behind-the-scenes deal between the White House and the drug lobby is causing no small degree of consternation among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Over at HuffPost, Ryan Grim is reporting that Senators received assurances from the White House that there was no deal that would prevent Medicare from …
Closing Guantanamo
From our colleague Bobby Ghosh:
Reality is catching up with the Obama administration’s Jan 21 deadline for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison. Speaking in Washington at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this morning, John Brennan, the President’s assistant on homeland security and counterterrorism,
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Cash for Clunkers Hits a Rough Patch in the Senate
The House managed to pivot on a dime and quickly pass legislation to expand funding by $2 billion for the surprisingly popular Cash for Clunkers program before adjourning for summer recess last week. The Senate this week is finding such expedited moves rather more difficult. Turns out the program has opponents from both the left and the …
Cash for Clunkers?
The House is racing to get outta Dodge this afternoon and despite rampant senioritis on the Hill, Speaker Pelosi kept enough members here long enough to pass H.R. 3435 to provide an additional $2 billion in stimulus funds to the wildly successful cash for clunkers program. The vote was bipartisan, passing 316-109 with six voting present, …