Top News
White House To Senate: Special Deals Aren’t That Big A Deal
To retain votes in the Senate, the White House is now backing away from its ban on special deals for individual states, which was a promise the president made after the "Cornhusker Kickback" was revealed - giving Nebraska extra Medicaid money to win Sen. Ben Nelson's vote. Now, White House aides say deals such as in Nebraska will be allowed if they benefit more than one state. It's a sign of the extremely high stakes for Obama's presidency. ... (more).
WSJ op-ed: The House Health-Care Vote and the Constitution
According to Michael W. McConnell, a professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who formerly served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, no bill can become law unless the exact same text is approved by a majority of both houses of Congress. ... (more).
Questions About Research Slow Climate Change Efforts
The effort to stop global warming — has been under siege since last fall. That's when more than 1,000 e-mails among top climate scientists were obtained illegally by hackers and published on the Internet. The e-mails showed some of the scientists sharing doubts about just how fast the Earth's temperature is rising, questioning the work of other researchers and refusing to share data with the public. ... (more).
USA Today: Obama's Liberal Base 'Disengaged'
USA Today reports that liberal and progressive organizations that helped propel President Obama to the White House are turning on him now, a little more than a year after he took office. ... (more).
The Democrat Disconnect: Americans Wants Jobs, Democrats Push Health Care
According to the New York Times, the Administration and Democrats in general are in trouble because they are not urgently and effectively addressing the issue that most Americans want them to: the frightening economic insecurity that has put a chokehold on millions of American families. Instead of focusing with unwavering intensity on this increasingly tragic situation, making it their top domestic priority, President Obama and the Democrats on Capitol Hill have spent astonishing amounts of time and energy, and most of their political capital, on an obsessive quest to pass a health care bill. But while the nation is desperate for jobs, jobs, jobs, the Democrats have spent most of the Obama era chanting health care, health care, health care. ... (more).
Stupak: There's No Deal, And I Won't Agree to a Promise to Fix the Bill in the Future
Congressman Bart Stupak (D - Mich.) says abortion language can’t wait; it must be included in the health care bill the House votes on. Stupak affirmed that he will not settle for an agreement to pass the bill now and fix the bill's problems on abortion later: "If they say 'we’ll give you a letter saying we'll take care of this later,' that’s not acceptable because later never comes." ... (more).
Will Congressional Democrats Vote for the Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase?
As majority leadership attempts to usher a health care bill through the House with Democrats' seal of approval, they have a dirty secret: In order to run their end-around on the American people, Democrats will first have to approve the current health care bill – and all of the shady backroom deals that come along with it. ... (more).
The Number Of Firm Democrats “No” Votes on Health Care Continues To Grow
From the Hill: Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) are firm “no’s” on the bill, according to their offices. Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.), Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) are undecided. … In a bad sign for Democratic leaders, a couple of the 11 firm “no’s” in The Hill survey were on the fence days before the Nov. 7, 2009 vote, including Reps. Frank Kratovil (Md.) and Walt Minnick (Idaho). ... (more).
Code Red Update: The Real Fight Is In The House
According to most media outlets, the U.S. House of Representatives is the last line of defense against a government takeover of health care. ... (more).
Congressman Massa Resigns, Democrats Sink Deeper into Swamp of Corruption
According to the National Republican Campaign Committee, despite Speaker Pelosi's promises, "the swamp's still here and it's pretty muddy." ... (more).
How Pelosi Will Game the Stupak 12
A Washington Post op-ed explains that the bottom line is that Stupak and the blue dog Democrats in the House have no leverage if they go along with Pelosi in a reconciliation strategy. The only way they can ensure that the abortion language and other provisions they oppose are eliminated is to reject reconciliation entirely -- and demand that the House and Senate start over with clean legislation. ... (more).
Associated Press: Democrats Mired in Swamp They Vowed to Drain
The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) reports that with just eight months until November, Congressional Democrats are sinking deeper into the muck of deceit and hypocrisy. ... (more).
Wall Street Journal: Paul Ryan v. The President
While Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan dissects ObamaCare's real costs. Democrats stay mute. ... (more).
Investors Business Daily Editorial: Tea Party Amendment
From an IBD editorial: Tea Partyers have made it clear they don't trust politicians — Democrat or Republican. Their historic uprising may now have a surefire way to stop politicians from spending us into the abyss. ... (more).
Fact Check: President Repeats Discredited Health Care Claims
During his health care speech today, President Obama again repeated many claims with a straight face that simply aren’t true. The President’s rhetoric doesn’t change this simple fact: Americans want to scrap the Democrats’ massive bill and start over with a clean sheet of paper so we can work on step-by-step, common-sense reforms that lower health care costs. ... (more).
