Common ground? Not so much. Here’s my story for TIME.com.
Congress
Bunning Hijacks the Senate
I didn’t think it was possible for Senator Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican, to get more unpopular with his colleagues: he was forced, feet dragging, to announce he wouldn’t run for reelection after fellow Kentuckian and minority leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t even endorse him. But tonight, he is pariah to a whole new level. …
“She Wore Her Dead Sister’s Teeth.”
For my money, New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter made the most riveting presentation of the morning:
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more about "“She Wore Her Dead Sister’s Teeth.”", posted with vodpod
You can read her comments after the jump:
Dingell Dispatch
No one in the room at the health care summit has worked longer on the issue than John Dingell, the senior member of the House. Indeed, for him, this cause has been a family legacy. I checked in with him at the lunch break by email, and here’s what he thought of the morning:
Pretty Cool
The Sunlight Foundation is streaming this health care summit. Every time someone speaks, Sunlight shows their top donors. Check it out here.
Morning Must Reads
–Robert Gibbs insists today’s health care summit won’t be “kabuki theater.” Biden goes off message and says it might.
–Mike Allen has an excerpt of Pelosi’s opening remarks.
–Mark Blumenthal reminds us that not too many people actually watch these things.
–It looks like Michael Bennet’s public option letter may have panned …
Health Care Summit: A Viewer’s Guide
The White House health care summit is set to begin at 10 a.m. EST today at Blair House. Kate Pickert and I will be watching throughout the six hours, and will be posting developments as we see them. Please join us here in Swampland throughout the day, and let us know what you think of the proceedings.
In the meantime, here are a few …
Why Olympia Snowe Won’t be There and Other Summit-Related News
Can you feel the excitement in the air? Cable news can. There was a flurry of health care-related news today, most of it summit specific.
For starters, this morning, the White House specifically invited Olympia Snowe to the event. (She is the only Senate Republican to have cast a vote in favor of health reform in 2009 – for the Senate …
Broken Government: Term Limits
As Karen and Michael noted we all did stories for the Broken Government project with our sister company CNN. Mine was on term limits (thank you deconstructiva for reminding me to post). Love ’em or hate ’em, they aren’t likely to happen any time soon as, thanks to a 1995 Supreme Court ruling, it’ll take a constitutional amendment to enact them.
Midday Reads
–A CNN poll finds 67 percent of Americans say congressional Republicans aren’t doing enough to foster bipartisanship, and they are about split on whether Obama is reaching out in good faith. It seems highly improbable tomorrow’s kabuki health reform summit moves the needle.
—Greg Sargent argues that in the end, voters are more …
Jobs Bill Passes Senate
The Senate just passed Harry Reid’s jobs bill 70-28. Reid plans on repeating this strategy over and over and over again till Election Day. Okay, maybe not Election Day – but definitely until Easter recess.
And Speaking of Reconciliation…
NPR’s Julie Rovner debunks Republican claims that this process has never before been used to make sweeping changes in health care law. Indeed, the COBRA law that allows those who lose their jobs to continue buying their employer’s coverage is actually an acronym for (*cough*) Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 …
Health Care Summit: Not So Great Expectations
There’s little bipartisan agreement on what President Barack Obama’s health care summit on Thursday will truly be, though low expectations are popping up across the political spectrum.
“What’s disturbing is the continued media reports that [Democrats] already have their plan to move forward … no matter what the result is of …