White House
State Of The Union Set, Outlook Still Grim For Coakley
The White House announced today that Obama will give his State of The Union address on January 27, saving Lost fanatics a lot of heartache.
Meanwhile, Nate Silver, at FiveThirtyEight.com, who correctly predicted all the Senate contests last cycle, says that Scott Brown is a 3 to 1 favorite going into tomorrow’s election against Martha …
The Drug Industry Threatens To Oppose The Health Bill
The Associated Press reports that in the wake of President Obama’s decision to push for a shorter period of exclusivity for biologics, the drug lobby is threatening to walk away from its deal to support the bill:
More on Obama and the Biotech Industry
It was a surprise indeed. Most people had figured that the biologic drug industry had sealed the deal for 12 years of protection from generic competition when it succeeded in getting language to that effect in both the House and Senate health care bills. Although President Obama had supported shorter protection of seven years,* there had …
Health Care: The White House and the Unions Have a Deal
Health care legislation took a major step toward the finish line today, when the White House and congressional leaders reached a deal on one of the major remaining issues: a proposal, known was the Cadillac tax, to impose a 40% levy on expensive insurance policies. Indeed, it was with the end in sight–and the prospect of a difficult …
FBI: Beware Of Bogus Online Haiti Relief Solicitations
There are a number of ways that you can give money to help the humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. (The White House suggests giving to the Red Cross International Response Fund, or through groups recommended by the Center for International Disaster Information.)
There are also a number of ways to get ripped off. From our friends, …
Ford Eyes Gillibrand Challenge; Schumer Eyes Ford (And Not in a Good Way)
Kristen Gillibrand may not have been their first choice to fill Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate seat (ahem, Caroline Kennedy) but the White House is sticking by her after former five-term Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford told the New York Post exclusively (note the interesting choice of Gotham publications for a Democrat):
It’s true: I am
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Health Reform: The Issue to Watch
With the House returning to session tomorrow, the final stretch of negotiations over health reform begins in earnest. While there are plenty of differences to be worked out between the House and Senate bill, the so-called “Cadillac tax” is emerging as the main flashpoint. Here’s a brief story I wrote on this for TIME.com.
Re: Jonathan Gruber
First of all, I’d like to echo and associate myself with everything that Kate has to say below, and to congratulate Marcy Wheeler on an excellent piece of reporting. As has been so often the case with Marcy, she distinguishes herself by asking questions and doing spade work that at times makes the rest of us look a little thick by …
UPDATE: Health Reform and the States
As Karen noted earlier today, she and I have a story in this week’s magazine about how much states will be on the hook if and when federal health reform passes.
The impetus for the story was, in part, the growing number of governors across the country publicly slamming the idea of expanding insurance coverage to millions of …
Speaking of Finger Pointing. . .
Two U.S. officials are apparently doing what Obama did not want done, pointing the finger. From today’s New York Daily News:
The top official in charge of analyzing terror threats did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an airliner on Christmas Day, the Daily News has learned.
Michael Leiter,
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Obama, Pointing Fingers and The Reponsibility-Taking Tack
Shortly after President Obama met his aides behind closed doors Tuesday in the Situation Room, a White House official emailed reporters a four-sentence quote Obama had uttered during the meeting. Three of the sentences focused on the seriousness of the Christmas Day bombing attempt, and the president’s displeasure at the failures of U.S. …
The Health Care Dealmaking: Will We See It On C-SPAN?
Remember this promise by candidate Barack Obama during the presidential campaign?:
But the last point I want to make has to do with how we’re going to actually get this plan done. You know, Ted Kennedy said that he is confident that we will get universal health care with me as president, and he’s been working on it longer than I
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