A flashpoint in a partisan legislative battle. Check. Check.
A favorite GOP talking point used to reduce a massive piece of legislation into two, scary-sounding words. (“permanent bailout” and “government takeover”) Check. Check.
Relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of reform. Check. Check.
The public option was …
Michael and I have both written before about Mitt Romney’s health care quandary. He was the architect of the Massachusetts reform plan that closely resembles the new national plan that just became law. Yet, he’s also a presumed candidate for president in 2012 and would be vying for the nomination of a party that has staked its …
Yes, there are 16 actually, according to a fascinating new USA Today article reporting that 47 physicians are running for seats in the House and Senate this fall. All but six are Republicans, which is noteworthy, especially given that nearly all of the doctors currently in Congress are also from the Grand Old Party. Republican doctors in …
I wasn’t planning to write any more about Bill O’Reilly, but it seems I have to do one more round of fact checking about The Factor.
After I pointed out that O’Reilly had erroneously said Fox News never told viewers they could be jailed for failure to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, O’Reilly attempted to defend …
The Democratic National Committee has already pledged to spend $50 million on congressional elections this year. And now Ben Smith gets word that the White House will devote a senior aide to selling health care full time. Which senior aide will take up this responsibility isn’t yet known, but presumably they will do some of what was …
A little more than a week ago, Tom Coburn did something fairly courageous by political standards. At a town hall meeting in Oklahoma, the conservative Republican senator referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a “nice lady” and criticized Fox News. (He was briefly booed for the Pelosi comment.) After an audience member mentioned …
I was planning to write about the ridiculousness of Republicans claiming the health reform law will require 16,000 new IRS agents, but many others beat me to it. Here’s the whole scoop on this lie. (Here’s a crib sheet from Ezra Klein.)
Distortions like this chip away at the credibility of Republican critics of health reform. There …
Mitt Romney is a competent politician and competent politicians usually know how to duck questions about topics they don’t want to talk about. They respond briefly and vaguely and then turn to something slightly related, but far less politically toxic. This is the pivot and it’s a skill every politician must have down pat. So why does …
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible contender for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, has announced he will join a growing number of states challenging the legality of the health reform law.
This further distinguishes Pawlenty from another top contender for the nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (Romney, you may …
One advantage the GOP had in the health debate was its total disregard for nuance when it came to messaging. Again and again, Republicans over-simplified provisions in the Democratic plan and convinced a lot of Americans that reform was bad in the process. They said the bill would gut Medicare by slashing half a trillion dollars in …
Policy can never be separated from politics and this morning we got another reminder.
After the New York Times reported yesterday that insurers might try to avoid issuing policies for kids with pre-existing conditions – despite that the reform law meant to prohibit this – the AP reports this today:
After nearly a year battling
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“We feel like we’ve been pregnant for 17 months, let’s get on with it already.” Those were the words of Democrat Rep. Louise Slaughter, chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, on Saturday, as she moved health reform one step closer to the finish line.
Well put. After all the hearings and debates and town halls; after the Gang of Six …
As Jay and I have pointed out, by the time Election Day rolls around, most voters probably won’t care much what procedures or sweetheart deals Democrats employed in their efforts to pass health care reform. Democrats are more likely be judged by the generic measure of whether they were for or against health care. (This is assuming health …
