Author: HL

Law professor Goodwin Liu may be test case for Obama judicial picks
Liberal legal activists came away from last summer’s confirmation hearings on Sonia Sotomayor with an empty feeling. It’s not so much that they had a beef with Sotomayor, whom they supported. But her pragmatic discourses on judging and her vague remarks on constitutional interpretation were far from the soaring progressive vision of the Constitution that they had waited for years to hear from a Democratic nominee.

Senate has some work left on health-care bill
Leaving a meeting of House Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) walked off quietly Saturday afternoon with a few aides but was stopped in his tracks by an unfamiliar face.

In creating consumer financial regulatory agency, there are no guarantees
In the debate over how to structure a new regulatory agency to protect consumers of financial products, history offers a lesson:

Republicans rally Tea Party activists to oppose the health-care legislation
Congressional Republicans rallied Tea Party activists to oppose the health-care legislation on the verge of being approved by Congress even as party leaders began to look beyond Sunday’s vote to campaigning against the reform in the fall elections.

Bartlett: Tea Partiers Clueless About Taxes
Tea Party members are misinformed about taxes, Bruce Bartlett writes in Forbes “According to the CBO, the highest figure for all federal taxes since 1970 came in the year 2000, when they reached 20.6% of GDP. As we know, after that George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress cut federal taxes; they fell to 18.5% of GDP in 2007, before the recession hit, and 17.5% in 2008. Tuesday’s Tea Party crowd, however, thought that federal taxes were almost three times as high as they actually are. The average response was 42% of GDP and the median 40%. The highest figure recorded in all of American history was half those figures: 20.9% at the peak of World War II in 1944.”

Late Late Night FDL: Hare Way To The Stars
Bugs Bunny and Marvin The Martin in Hare Way To The Stars. This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon was released on March 29, 1958. What’s on your mind?

Bugs Bunny and Marvin The Martin in Hare Way To The Stars.  This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon was released on March 29, 1958.

Directed by Chuck Jones.  Story by Michael Maltese.  Film Editing and Sound Effects Editing by Treg Brown.  Visual Effects Animation by Harry Love.  Backgrounds by Philip DeGuard.  Layouts by Maurice Noble.  Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, and Abe Levitow.  Vocal Talent by Mel Blanc and others.  Original Music by Milt Franklyn.

What’s on your mind?

Tags: Bugs Bunny, cartoon, hare way to the stars, late late nite firedoglake, marvin the martian, YouTube

?

Sunday Talking Heads: March 21, 2010
Amidst all the health care goings on, FDL has a special treat today. Paul Krugman is hosting Book Salon, and it isn’t economics, it’s science fiction, Charles Stross’s Trade of Queens. So take a break from House business to talk alternate universes. And of course we have health care, health care, health care…

Amidst all the health care goings on, FDL has a special treat today.  Paul Krugman is hosting Book Salon, and it isn’t economics, it’s science fiction, Charles Stross’s Trade of Queens.   So take a break from House business to talk alternate universes (I hear tell Washington gets nuked).

And of course we have health care, health care, health care…  The action really heats up around two. You know we’ll be liveblogging.

Washington Journal: 7:30am – Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). 8am – Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA).  8:30am – Sheila Krumholz, Center for Responsive Politics, Executive Director.  9am – Aaron Miller, Woodrow Wilson Center, Public Policy Scholar.

ABC’s This Week: Host: Jonathan Karl.  David Plouffe v Karl Rove. Roundtable: Tom Daschle, Trent Lott, George Will, Sam Donaldson.

Amanpour.

CBS’ Face The Nation: Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL).

Chris Matthews: Howard Fineman Newsweek; Kelly O’Donnell NBC News; Michele Norris NPR; Michael Duffy TIME Magazine.  Topics: After health care, how do Democrats avoid a blowout in the midterms?  How liberal can Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee be?

Fareed Zakaria – GPS: Israel and the US with Mort Zuckerman and Martin Indyk.  Plus, Michael Lewis, author of The Blind Side.  “He has a new book out on the financial crisis and some very provocative ideas about Wall Street as a dying empire.”

Fox News Sunday: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).  Then, “Senate Republicans warned that they’ll use every procedural tactic within their power in order to prevent health care reform from becoming law.”  Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman, National Republican Senatorial Committee. Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.

Virtually Speaking: Cliff Schecter and digby.

C-SPAN’s Book TV.

FDL Book Salon: Chat with Charles Stross about his new book, The Trade of Queens: Book Six of the Merchant Princes. Hosted by Paul Krugman.  5 pm ET.

FDL Movie Night Monday: The Corner Store with Producer/Director/Editor Katherine Bruens.  “Structured as a first-person narrative with an informal and intimate tone, and shot with largely vérité cinematography, the camera introduces the audience to Yousef Elhaj: Yousef left Palestine ten years ago during the second Intifada, forced to leave his wife and children behind as an economic refugee.”  Hosted by Lisa Derrick, 8pm ET.

Tags: bobbleheads, Sunday Talking Heads

?

Thousands Protest In D.C. For Withdrawal From Iraq, Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Thousands of protesters – many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama – marched through the nation’s capital Saturday to urge immediate…

Obama Quotes Lincoln To House Dems: ‘I Am Bound To Be True’ (VIDEO)
WASHINGTON — Victory within reach, President Barack Obama rallied House Democrats on Saturday for a final health care push, and party leaders appeared confident they…

Rep. Earl Blumenauer: In Defense of Sausage
After more than a year of being in the middle of this drama, I am satisfied that a clear outline for fundamental reform for America’s flawed health system is emerging.

Cavuto falsely claims that health care reform is “most costly” bill “in a generation”

On Fox News, Neil Cavuto stated that health care reform legislation under consideration in Congress is “the most costly piece of legislation we have seen in a generation.” In fact, the health care reform bill is expected to reduce the federal deficit over 10 years, and even looking at gross costs alone, President Bush’s 2001 tax cut bill was more expensive.

Cavuto: Health care reform is “the most costly piece of legislation we have seen in a generation”

From Fox News’ March 20 special coverage of health care reform legislation with Neil Cavuto:

CAVUTO: Stick around. You’re watching Fox News’ Cost of Freedom coverage of the most costly piece of legislation we have seen in a generation. Now, does it pass? It’s close. It’s very close.

Bush’s 2001 tax cuts were more expensive

In fact, President Bush’s 2001 tax cut bill, H.R. 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), cost more than the current health care reform legislation. In its scoring of EGTRRA, the Congressional Budget Office stated that the bill “would reduce projected total surpluses by approximately $1.35 trillion over the 2001-2011 period.” Leaving off 2011’s projected $129.4 billion in decreased government receipts and increased outlays, CBO projected the bill to cost $1.22 trillion in its first 10 years. By contrast, in its March 18 scoring of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the accompanying reconciliation bill, CBO stated that including cost savings and revenue increases, the bill would actually reduce the deficit by $138 billion over the first 10 of its enactment. CBO stated that the bill’s “gross cost of coverage provisions” over the same period would be $940 billion.

John Ensign as ‘Tricky Dick’ in Watergate Two
“Buried under the pile of details that have emerged in the last 48 hours on the John Ensign investigation is one crucial over-arching development: The federal probe into the matter appears to have expanded, and shifted its focus in a way that … could make it an even graver threat to the Nevada senator than […]

A Terror Trials Pep Talk
There are two reasons I am utterly baffled by the possible reversal of the decision to try terrorists in federal court. First, it comes at a time when efforts to find, kill, and capture terrorists are having significant success. The…


United States – Lindsey Graham – Terrorism – Warfare and Conflict – United States federal courts

What Do Israel and Iran(’s Nuclear Weapons / Program) Have to Do With Each Other? Part II
Yesterday I wrote a post with the narrow purpose of picking apart a manipulative and nonsensical conservative talking point regarding the spike in tensions between the US and Israel. Bottom line: completely separate from how any of us feels about…


Israel – Iran – Middle East – Nuclear weapon – Warfare and Conflict

Presented By:

Rep. Barney Frank distributes ?Little Punk Staffer? buttons to Capitol Hill aides.
At an American Bankers Association summit last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) urged the bankers to fight financial reform. To make his point, he bashed people who work in Congress and called them “little punk staffers“: “Don’t let those little punk staffers take advantage of you and stand up for yourselves,” Boehner said. […]

At an American Bankers Association summit last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) urged the bankers to fight financial reform. To make his point, he bashed people who work in Congress and called them “little punk staffers“:

“Don’t let those little punk staffers take advantage of you and stand up for yourselves,” Boehner said. “All of us are hearing from our friends and constituents on lack of credit, you can’t get a loan, the more your government takes and taxes, the more regulations you have to comply with the more cost you have there and less amount you are going to have available to loan to customers.”

White House National Economic Council Director Larry Summers fired back at Boehner, pointing out that the biggest problem in the financial system certainly isn’t that bankers do not have enough of a voice in the policy process. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) wrote Boehner a letter and called on him to apologize: “I am appalled that a Leader of the House, who must know what good work is done by our staffs, would take such an inaccurate cheap-shot at these people, for the purpose of ingratiating himself with bankers.” A House staffer told ThinkProgress today that Frank is now distributing “Little Punk Staffer” buttons to Hill aides, in a clear shot at Boehner’s insult.

Latino religious leader Rodriguez courts the left, right for immigration reform
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez wants immigration reform, and believes building bridges across political divides is how to win it.

Under Panetta, a more aggressive CIA
The plan was a standard one in the CIA’s war against extremists in Pakistan: The agency was using a Predator drone to monitor a residential compound; a Taliban leader was expected to arrive shortly; a CIA missile would kill him.

‘Tea party’ protesters accused of spitting on lawmaker, using slurs
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said that racial epithets were hurled at them Saturday by angry protesters who had gathered at the Capitol to protest health-care legislation, and one congressman said he was spit upon. The most high-profile openly gay congressman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), was heckled with anti-gay chants.

Featured Advertiser

Once HC Passes, It Won’t Be Repealed
Dana Milbank, Washington Post
"This is the largest tax bill in history," the Republican leader fumed. The reform "is unjust, unworkable, stupidly drafted and wastefully financed."And that wasn't all. This "cruel hoax," he said, this "folly" of "bungling and waste," compared poorly to the "much less expensive" and "practical measures" favored by the Republicans."We must repeal," the GOP leader argued. "The Republican Party is pledged to do this."That was…

Health Care Pushes Other Issues to Margins
Peter Baker, New York Times
WASHINGTON "” One weekend last month, American forces drove into the Marja area of southern Afghanistan, opening the biggest military operation of the Obama presidency. In the five weeks since then, President Obama has made 38 speeches, statements or other public remarks and never once mentioned the operation. In recent public appearances, like this one on Friday in Fairfax, Va., President Obama has focused his remarks largely on the campaign for a health care overhaul. In fact, amid roughly 100,000 words uttered in these mostly scripted events…

Netanyahu is Undermining Israel’s Security
Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek

Anyone for a Little Immigration Reform?
Congress is expected to vote on health care reform this weekend, so what’ll all those senators and representatives have to busy their idle hands with next? Giving Wall Street the what for? Not likely. Well, how about a big debate on immigration? If the thousands of people who reportedly plan to descend upon Washington on Sunday succeed in prodding elected officials to take up the cause, immigration reform may rise a notch or two on Congress’ to-do list, which probably would lead to the re-emergence of Lou Dobbs on the national scene. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.  —KA CNN: Thousands of people are expected to pour into Washington for a Sunday rally demanding immigration reform, launching the first public battle over the issue since the announcement of a new bipartisan plan endorsed by President Obama. […] The organization Reform Immigration for America, which supports a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, says the changes it wants to see will help bring about “economic justice for all Americans.” In response, the Federation for American Immigration Reform—which staunchly opposes amnesty—called on Americans to contact their representatives and demand tougher borders and an end to illegal immigration. FAIR says it seeks “effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America’s best interests.” “The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation,” the two senators behind the new immigration plan wrote Friday in the Washington Post. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, lay out broad ideas for fixing a “badly broken” system. Read more

Congress is expected to vote on health care reform this weekend, so what’ll all those senators and representatives have to busy their idle hands with next? Giving Wall Street the what for? Not likely. Well, how about a big debate on immigration?

If the thousands of people who reportedly plan to descend upon Washington on Sunday succeed in prodding elected officials to take up the cause, immigration reform may rise a notch or two on Congress’ to-do list, which probably would lead to the re-emergence of Lou Dobbs on the national scene. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.? —KA

CNN:

Thousands of people are expected to pour into Washington for a Sunday rally demanding immigration reform, launching the first public battle over the issue since the announcement of a new bipartisan plan endorsed by President Obama.

[…] The organization Reform Immigration for America, which supports a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, says the changes it wants to see will help bring about “economic justice for all Americans.”

In response, the Federation for American Immigration Reform—which staunchly opposes amnesty—called on Americans to contact their representatives and demand tougher borders and an end to illegal immigration. FAIR says it seeks “effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America’s best interests.”

“The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation,” the two senators behind the new immigration plan wrote Friday in the Washington Post.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, lay out broad ideas for fixing a “badly broken” system.

Read more

Related Entries

• March 18, 2010 Health Care Bill Watch 2010: Left Frustrated, Right Readies Attack
• March 16, 2010 How the Public Option Can Be Saved

Details From Jonathan Alter’s Book, ‘The Promise,’ Leak: Obama On Teabaggers, Rahm’s Fits, Summers vs. Orszag
As Democrats prepare to vote on the historic health-care legislation this weekend, a new look inside the White House is emerging from an upcoming book…

Bill Maher’s Posters For Liz Cheney’s 2012 Presidential Campaign (VIDEO)
Liz Cheney has not announced a presidential run in 2012. But with a recent profile in Newsweek guessing as much, it’s very possible that the…

Bobby Rush Still ‘Very Undecided’ On Health Reform
The only man to ever have beaten Barack Obama could help hand him a defeat in the House. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who handed Barack…

Michael Moore: My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain
Hey, Bart. If you really want to reduce abortions, ask yourself this: Why does godless France, where abortion is nearly free (it’s covered by their universal health insurance), have 20% fewer abortions per capita than we do?

Huff Radio: Left, Right & Center: Health Care Reform, Financial Reform, and Do Liberals Always Pass a Democratic Bill?
So what does it mean to the left if the health care reform bill passes the House this weekend? And what is this “deeming” procedure anyway? Is it worth risking a Constitutional challenge?

Kitchen sink: Fox smears more Dems with baseless insinuations of handouts

Fox continues to smears Democrats who plan to vote for health care reform bill, concocting baseless allegation of shady handouts in the legislation.

Fox smears Dems with insinuations of shady special deals

From the March 19 broadcast of Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier:

BRIAN WILSON (correspondent): Deals still alive for the moment? Well, Republicans claim that Democrat Bart Gordon changed his vote from “yes” — from “no” to “yes” after he got $100 million for Tennessee hospitals that treat the poor. Other deals still in play? Yes, the Louisiana Purchase: $300 million in Medicaid money is still alive; Connecticut hospital handout — $100 million sought by Senator Dodd.

From the March 19 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

HANNITY: Retiring Congressman Bart Gordon is doing a 180 as well. Now he voted “no” in November, but after securing millions of dollars in Medicaid funding for low-income patients in his home state, well, he’s now in the “yes” column.

CT isn’t only state eligible for hospital funding

Connecticut would reportedly have to compete for the hospital funds. The Hartford Courant includes a provision — often referred to as the “Louisiana Purchase” by conservative media — that would adjust the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The bill requires that it only apply to states “for which, at any time during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster” and “determined as a result of such disaster that every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government.”

The Department of Health and Human Services states that FMAP is “used in determining the amount of Federal matching funds for State expenditures for assistance payments for certain social services, and State medical and medical insurance expenditures. The Social Security Act requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to calculate and publish the FMAPs each year.”

Times-Picayune: Temporary post-Katrina spending “spiked” per capita income “long enough” to skew Medicaid funding formula, causing state Medicaid funding shortfall. The Times-Picayune reported on January 22 that “FMAP refers to the percentage of a state’s payments under Medicaid that are covered by the federal government. Louisiana usually gets a higher match because of how poor the state is, but because of all the recovery and rebuilding money that poured in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, state per capita income spiked long enough to throw the formula out of kilter and threaten to blow a hole [in] the state budget. [Sen. Mary] Landrieu’s fix was, according to state officials, only the beginning of a solution for a huge Medicaid shortfall the state is facing.” The article stated that Landrieu said “attaching the Medicaid provision to a health-care bill made sense, and there is no obvious and feasible legislative alternative.”

Jindal: “If not corrected in Washington, D.C.,” FMAP problem will cost $500 million a year. Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget proposal states that the “Louisiana state government faces significant, multi-year budget challenges, compounded by a faulty federal FMAP formula that, if not corrected in Washington, D.C., will cost the state approximately $500 million a year in Medicaid funding, impacting services for the poorest in our state, and often those who need care the most.” The proposal also says that “[w]hile there is discussion in Washington about extending the enhanced federal Medicaid match rate for six months for all states, without a permanent fix to Louisiana’s faulty FMAP calculation, combined with the loss of federal stimulus funding, Louisiana will still face a projected $1.7 billion shortfall for FY 12.”

Sean Hannity punked out by a right-wing blogger
Excerpt: Conservative pundits like FOX New’s Sean Hannity can expect to take some flack from writers on the left. But when a “fellow” conservative writer calls his charity “a huge scam,” it may be time to take a closer look. Sean Hannity has been traveling the country on his so-called “freedom concert” tour for years. These shows are […]

Barack Obama, I Want a Divorce
My honeymoon with the Democrats has long since passed. Our relationship has turned sour, and I’m in no mood to marry again.

My honeymoon with the Democrats has long since passed. Our relationship has turned sour, and I'm in no mood to marry again.

Low Latino Turnout Could Hurt Democrats in 2010, Says Poll
With immigration reform back on the Washington, D.C. agenda, Latino voters will be watching to see which politicians step up and which don’t…

With immigration reform back on the Washington, D.C. agenda, Latino voters will be watching to see which politicians step up and which don't…

20 Principles for Successful Community Organizing
Kahn’s new book, "Creative Community Organizing: a Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists and Quiet Lovers of Justice," is a manifesto for the politically active.

Kahn's new book, "Creative Community Organizing: a Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists and Quiet Lovers of Justice," is a manifesto for the politically active.

Seven Years and $747 Billon of of Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Iraq
There will be no economic recovery as long as we’re spending billions a year on wars that don’t make us safer.

There will be no economic recovery as long as we're spending billions a year on wars that don't make us safer.

My Experience with a Psychedelic Plant That Thousands Have Used for Release from Severe Addictions
"The first sign that ibogaine is working is generally a loud buzzing or ringing in the ears … Soon after that I begin to feel warm and things take on a light golden glow."

"The first sign that ibogaine is working is generally a loud buzzing or ringing in the ears … Soon after that I begin to feel warm and things take on a light golden glow."

Rep. Paul Broun: The ramifications of health reform will be like ?the Great War of Yankee Aggression.?
As the vote on health care approaches, Republican lawmakers are attacking the legislation with increasingly bizarre and hateful comments. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), a far right lawmaker who has led much of the opposition to health reform, took to the floor of the House of Representatives last night to deliver a diatribe against health reform. […]

As the vote on health care approaches, Republican lawmakers are attacking the legislation with increasingly bizarre and hateful comments. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), a far right lawmaker who has led much of the opposition to health reform, took to the floor of the House of Representatives last night to deliver a diatribe against health reform. Previously, Broun had compared President Obama to a dictator who would impose martial law. But last night, Broun out-performed his reactionary colleagues and even his own track record of absurdity. Bellowing into the microphone, Broun said that “if ObamaCare passes,” a “free insurance card” (which is not in the bill) will be “as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the “Great War of Yankee Aggression“:

BROUN: If ObamaCare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is gonna be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the War Between The States — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.

Watch it:

Rather than simply distort the legislation by lying about how much it costs or how it will affect people, the right has tried to build opposition to health reform using racial, militant rhetoric. As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) compared health reform to a Japanese suicide bombing attack. And Glenn Beck has continuously referred to health reform as “reparations” for slavery. But Broun’s analogy between health reform and a “Great War of Yankee Aggression” might take the cake for its coded racism, historical revisionism, and outright level of detachment from reality. (HT: Media Matters Action Network)

Dutch officials call Sheehan?s theory blaming gay soldiers for the Srebrenica massacre ?complete nonsense.?
Yesterday, ret. Gen. John J. Sheehan, the former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) could harm the competency of the U.S. military. To back up his claim, he argued that Netherlands’ allowance of gay men and women to serve openly played a […]

Yesterday, ret. Gen. John J. Sheehan, the former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) could harm the competency of the U.S. military. To back up his claim, he argued that Netherlands’ allowance of gay men and women to serve openly played a role in the devastating Srebrenica genocide in 1995. From his exchange with committee chairman Carl Levin (D-MI):

SHEEHAN: The case in point that I’m referring to was when the Dutch were required to defend Sbrenecia against the Serbs, the battalion was understrength, poorly led. And the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone polls, marched the Muslims off and executed them. That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II.

LEVIN: And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?

SHEEHAN: It was a combination –

LEVIN: Did they tell you that?

SHEEHAN: Yes.

Dutch officials, however, are forcefully rejecting Sheehan’s outrageous claim. “It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense,” said the Dutch defense ministry spokesman, pointing out that international investigations of the Srebrenica massacre found no evidence “that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role.” The Dutch ambassador to the United States said she “couldn’t disagree more” with Sheehan’s statement, and Dutch caretaker Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop called the claim “‘damaging’ and not worthy of a soldier. ‘I don’t want to waste any more words on it,’ he said.” Gen. Henk van den Breemen, Dutch Chief of Staff at the time of the Srebrenica genocide, added that Sheehan was spouting “total nonsense.”

Tactics on the Hill: An inevitable part of legislative process?
If House Democrats pass a health-care bill this weekend, it would be the latest step in a legislative process that has included a Saturday night vote, shortly before midnight, on the original version of the bill in November; Senate approval on Christmas Eve; and a week in which “deem and pass” and “self-executing rule” replaced “reconciliation” as the latest bit of inexplicable arcana from inside the Beltway.

Experts wonder whether U.S. has a real Israel strategy or ‘talking points’
The Obama administration signaled Friday that its 10-day spat with Israel may be nearing an end, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declaring to the BBC that the confrontation “is paying off” and would lead to a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Health-care legislation’s insurance subsidies prompt questions of affordability
The final health-care legislation that House Democrats are striving to pass this weekend would give about 19 million Americans subsidies averaging $6,000 to help pay premiums and other insurance charges, an unprecedented government investment in private health policies that leaves lingering questions about whether coverage would truly become affordable.

No New Promises, Please
Keith Hennessey, KeithHennessey.com
19 March  Print this This comment is addressed to those fiscally conservative Members of the House of Representatives thinking of voting for pending health care legislation.America is on an unsustainable fiscal path.  If we do nothing to address this, within 25 years the U.S. government will default on its debt, with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy and society.We are on this path because past elected officials made unsustainable benefit promises and enshrined them in law.  In some cases they paid for those…

A Textbook Case of Hysteria
Christine Flowers, Philadelphia Daily News
By Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily NewsBy Christine M. Flowers…

Democrats Risk Undermining Process With Health Bill

Dems Use Tactics They Once Reviled
Steve Huntley, Chicago Sun-Times
A big showdown vote over health care is coming Sunday, and President Obama and the Democratic leaders of Congress are pulling out all the stops to get their bill passed — so much so that they're starting to mimic a lot of what they said they hated in the Bush administration.Obama and the Democrats have embraced arcane legislative maneuvers — “reconciliation” in the Senate and a “deeming” rule in the House — while handing out payoffs like the “Louisiana Purchase” to round up the bare minimum of votes needed to enact their legislation. The message is clear:…

Obama Gives Contentious Interview on Fox
President Obama’s interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier was an “interrupt-a-thon” in which both guest and host didn’t let the other finish talking, writes Katie Connolly of Newsweek. “The president also seemed a little exasperated, asking Baier three times to let him finish his answers, and once accusing him of interrupting. Still, it’s good viewing.”

Health Reform Protesters Jeer Parkinson’s Victim
Outside an Ohio Congresswoman’s office Tuesday during dueling pro- and anti-health reform rallies, the anger reached a point that anti-reform protesters mocked an apparent Parkinson’s disease sufferer, scorning him as a “communist” who is looking for “handouts” and throwing dollar bills at him. “I wish we could talk back and forth,” lamented one person at the rallies. “Instead it’s they’re right we’re wrong.”

Late Late Night FDL: I Need To Know
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks — I Need To Know, live from Gatorville, 2006.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks — I Need To Know, live from Gatorville, 2006.

What’s on your mind?

Tags: i need to know, late late nite firedoglake, live from gatorville, live music, stevie nicks, The Heartbreakers, Tom Petty, YouTube

?

“Who cares what a bunch of broads think?”
Bart Stupak, awful person, or the most awful person?

Poor Bart Stupak, is having nun of this.

Today, “60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns” sent a letter to federal lawmakers urging them to pass the Senate health care legislation.

Nuns! What have nuns ever done for the Catholic Church? It’s the men that do all the heavy stuff, the lifting, the speaking, the petting, the hating, the beating, the covering up, the apologizing.

No, Bart listens to the ones who really matter!

“When I’m drafting right to life language, I don’t call up the nuns.” He says he instead confers with other groups including “leading bishops, Focus on the Family, and The National Right to Life Committee.”

What else does Stupak listen to Focus on the Family for? The show & tell with your son? The animal rights policies?

Listen Sister, Bart isn’t going to listen to a bunch of women tell him about what women think about womens’ bodies.

Oh, and Bart says his lying and moaning about health care reform and abortion has made his life hell, why people have been calling and mocking him.

Tell it to the family of Dr. Barnett Slepian or Dr. George Tiller, jackass.

?