I don’t want to write about John Edwards. You don’t want to read about John Edwards. And yet here we are, nearly two years after the National Enquirer first reported he had an affair with a then-unnamed campaign staffer, and Edwards is still managing to keep his private screw-up in the headlines. According to the latest reports, the …
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White House Drug Deal May be in Trouble
There was one more piece of important news from Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee markup of its health reform bill. As the committee was wrapping up – and after some senators had left for the evening – things got heated over a deal the White House reached earlier this year with drug companies. The deal stipulated that pharmaceutical …
The Congressional Budget Office: “It’s Complicated!”
The first day of the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform markup started around 9 a.m. and wrapped up at 10 p.m. Most of the day was spent on opening statements from committee members. But after that was done, Chairman Max Baucus moved on to questions for Congressional Budget Director Doug Elmendorf.
Tuesday in the Finance Committee Markup
It’s easy to get in the wonk weeds with health care, so here are a few quick and easy highlights from the first day of the Senate Finance Committee markup that ended around 10 p.m.
Details on Baucus’s New Mark
The only Democrats in their seats when the Senate Finance Committee reconvened after lunch to return to the markup of the body’s health reform bill were Chairman Max Baucus and Jay Rockefeller. The latter had to be back on time to give his opening statement. Over the break, journalists, including me, were digging through the revised mark …
Liberal Hollywood Stands Up For The Insurance Industry
A viral video brought to you by MoveOn.org, and that guy from Blades of Glory. . .
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3471865&w=425&h=350&fv=key%3D041b5acaf5]
more about “Protect Insurance Companies PSA from …“
We Like The U.N.
Given the usual slash and trash propaganda emanating from the right–and we can’t forget those black helicopters–it’s interesting to note during this United Nations General Assembly session that the U.N. is actually very popular among Americans, according to the latest polling from Pew.
Newt Gingrich Adds Hispanic News/Opinion Website-The Americano
Add another feather in the veritable bird’s nest that is Gingrich Inc. The former Speaker of the House, and all-around conservative idea-smith, has launched a news website for Hispanic Americans, the rapidly growing segment of swing voters. It’s called The Americano, and it is the bilingual brainchild of Sylvia Garcia, a longtime …
And We’re Adjourned
Opening statements took up the entire first half of the day. And more to come – Senators Jay Rockefeller and Pat Roberts will give their statements after the committee returns at 2:45 p.m. A few more highlights since my last post:
Today in Afghanistan
Les Gelb has an interesting op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting the President’s recent wobblies on Afghanistan and suggesting a middle path forward. Gelb has been a leading Afghanistan skeptic, so it’s news that he’s now in favor of adding two more brigades (about 10,000 troops) to the fight, as well as another 5-10,000 trainers.
Snapshot From The Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus just warned the committee that he is prepared to work all night. I would take this more seriously if it hadn’t been for the fact that he made this announcement to four Democrats, five Republicans … and 10 empty chairs.
UPDATE: Commenter Rustyreturns asks: Who are the “missing” Senators, Karen?
Pre-Game at the Senate Finance Committee
A few minutes after the scheduled 9 a.m. start, and Max Baucus has launched into his opening statement, declaring, “This is a balanced package.” At each place on the press tables is a stack of papers several inches deep.
I got here about a half-hour early and was not surprised to see what looked to be a couple hundred people standing …
Tom DeLay on Dancing With The Stars
Okay, I’ll come clean: I voted for him. In fact, I didn’t even wait for him to dance before I voted for him. And I would done it more than once, if only I could have figured out how to work the texting function on my BlackBerry by myself. (Instead, I had to turn to Swampkid #2, who refused to send it in for me again and then canceled my …