Guess Who's Really Raking In The Health Care Contributions?
5199078As a wild week in Washington draws to a close, chew over these numbers as you head out for the weekend.
The Republicans have put up staunch opposition to President Obama's ideas for health care reform. However, it turns out the GOP does not fare as well as Democrats when it comes to soliciting campaign contributions from doctors and other people working in the health sector.
A check of contributions from political action committees and individuals who donated $200 or more during the 2007-2008 election cycle finds that Democrats raised a total of $40.9 million compared to $32.1 million that went to Republicans. The numbers were released earlier this spring by the Federal Election Commission.
Continue »
The Republicans have put up staunch opposition to President Obama's ideas for health care reform. However, it turns out the GOP does not fare as well as Democrats when it comes to soliciting campaign contributions from doctors and other people working in the health sector.
A check of contributions from political action committees and individuals who donated $200 or more during the 2007-2008 election cycle finds that Democrats raised a total of $40.9 million compared to $32.1 million that went to Republicans. The numbers were released earlier this spring by the Federal Election Commission.
Continue »
How The GOP Keeps Beating The Dems
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
As you may know, Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina, shouted out, "You lie" when President Obama told Congress on Wednesday night that his health insurance coverage plans would not include illegal immigrants. Wilson subsequently apologized to the White House. But that set off the conservative punditocracy, which expressed loud outrage over the equally loud outrage at Wilson's admittedly boorish behavior.
Got all that?
Continue »
Obama Asks To Reform Journalism
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Even though he didn't name names, did he really need to?
"In an era where the news that city hall on fire can sweep around the world at the speed of the Internet, would (Cronkite) still have called to double check?" Mr. Obama asked.
Continue »
In His Own Words: Obama's Communist Manifesto
(CBS)
The President: "Hello everyone – how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning."
Translation A favorite Marxian approach. Dates back to Engels' days in Manchester, England. The implicit message to impressionable minds: It's fine to laze away the day. Don't worry about not being a productive part of society. Mom and Dad (and then the state) will be there to support your lack of initiative.
Continue »
Netanyahu's Settlement Two-Step
(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
The optimist in me says, let's turn the page and hope for the best. The pessimist in me, weary of the same script year after year, wonders whether the U.S. will ever get the upper hand in an increasingly dysfunctional relationship.
Israel says this is all the prelude to a construction freeze - not including the current batch of apartments, naturally. Now, the Israelis say, it will be up to the Arabs to reciprocate with a demonstration of their own good will. Fat chance. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz notes, "the number of new housing units will not actually decline compared to previous years. The only difference is that now, that instead of construction permits being given gradually throughout the year, the government intends to issue hundreds of permits within a few days, before the official announcement of the "freeze" is made."
Continue »
Anatomy Of A Nutjob Nation
(CBS)
Years after my father died, I asked my uncle how their verbal sparring always seemed to end on an upbeat note. "Your dad may have been mostly wrong most of the time," he said with a twinkle, "But he and I could disagree because in the end, we're all Americans. There's a baseline of trust. It was always all right."
A baseline of trust. I was thinking about what he said after reviewing a week's worth of headlines chockablock with stories quoting people screaming about truthers, birthers, socialists, communists, fascists, Nazis, secessionists, and racists. (And you thought the Mac vs PC debate got a little nutty sometimes?)
Continue »
For Van Jones, A Week Already Feels Like A Year
(CBS/iStockphoto)
The Washington Independent has turned up a six-year-old petition Jones signed alleging government complicity in the September 11 terror attacks. This comes just one day after The Hill reported the existence of a video clip recorded in February in which Jones referred to Republicans - and himself - as "a**holes."
Jones joined the Obama administration in May. He was the founder of a green jobs advocacy organization based in Oakland, Ca.
Continue »
U.S. Grad Schools: No Longer The Apple Of Their Eye?
(AP)
The first worry sign is that the total number of graduate applications from international students still remains below 2003 numbers. What's more,there was a 3% decline in graduate school admissions to overseas applicants between 2008 and 2009. That's the first time this has happened in five years.
The global economy's weakness played an obvious part. Faced with the worst financial crisis in decades, colleges and universities with more limited resources are being forced to rein in their international recruiting because of smaller budgets. At the same time, the global recession contributed to a sharp dropoff in applications from students in India and South Korea, two countries that send thousands of their nationals to U.S. colleges and universities each year.
Continue »
Cheney For President? Slim Odds But Not Impossible
(CBS)
"If the Bush administration's policies really did keep us safe for 7? years, then it stands to reason that the Obama administration's policies may be endangering us now. Certainly that is how the public would see it in the event of another terrorist attack. If that happens, heaven forbid, Obama will be seen to have failed in the most basic presidential duty, and the Bush administration will be vindicated. As inconceivable as it may seem today, the 2012 election may end up turning on national security. Republicans would be wise to nominate someone with both toughness and experience. Under such circumstances, it's hard to think of a better candidate--assuming, of course, that he could be persuaded to run--than Richard B. Cheney."
A few big "ifs" there. So far, Cheney has evinced little interest in running for president. What's more, the man's history of health problems would raise questions about his durability should he win election. Yet at the same time, Cheney does remain the de-facto face of the Republicans In Opposition and his frequent criticisms of the Obama administration's reversal of Bush-era policies on detainee treatment have endeared him to the party's conservative base. With no other Republican emerging to challenge for the party's leadership, you can make the case that Cheney rates as first among equals. Or even more.
Continue »
Obama's New Dilemma: Accept Half A Loaf?
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
That's the glass half-full view. Then there's Jimmy Carter, who came into office in 1979 enjoying a wave of post-Watergate support from the public but exited Washington with a 34 percent job approval rating.
Which way now? Little more than halfway into his first year on the job, it's clear that President Obama has reached one of those periodic crossroads we love to point out with 20-20 hindsight years later. The honeymoon is clearly over but if the economic stimulus measures take root and if the president's domestic policy measures pass and if Afghanistan and Iraq turn out well - well, that's already a lot of "ifs" - he may enjoy a bounce in public opinion. He could use one. A notoriously fickle public is already showing its restlessness. To wit:
Continue »
Dialogue Of The Deaf Over CIA Probe
(CBS)
The last few days offer coming attractions in a debate already assuming the form of blood sport. First came the orchestrated leaks by former intelligence officials telling the Washington Post that morale at the agency has sagged since the announcement of an investigation into possible abuse by CIA interrogators. The effort here was clear: Portray the investigation as a witch hunt that's going to hurt national security while destroying the reputation of devoted public services.
Former vice president Dick Cheney picked up the theme as he complained to Fox's Chris Wallace on Sunday that politics was now informing the process (thereby ensuring that politics would now inform the process.) "It's clearly a political move," Cheney said while taking a few shots at Barack Obama's ability to lead the nation. "There's no other rationale for why they're doing this."
Continue »
On National Security, We're Talking Tough Guys Vs. The Wimps
(CBS/AP)
Most liberals and Democrat are demanding to know whether any laws got broken during the Bush-era prisoner interrogations. Most conservatives and Republicans dismiss it as a waste of time and a witch hunt.
But this isn't going to become your usual political food fight. Because it involves the Central Intelligence Agency, terror, and a broader debate over national security and civil liberties, there's also no shortage of politicians and pundits ready to strike tough guy poses in front of a public still unclear about what the government actually gleaned from the interrogations. And with former Vice President Dick Cheney defending the practice of roughing up prisoners to get them to talk, tactics that he claims saved American lives, the investigation is sure to revive earlier debates about the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq.
Continue »
So What Happens To Camelot Now?
(AP/CBS)
But with the Democrats taking a break from a hard battle in Congress over health care reform to mourn Kennedy's death, is it finally time to bury one of the enduring political myths of the last half century? After all, it's been quite a while since JFK and Jackie had the run of the White House. And not to get too off topic, but after half a century, romantic memories of Camelot don't always comport with the more prosaic facts about an era in U.S. history that's still open to reinterpretation.
Let's not forget that when he became president in 1961, John Kennedy - ready to> "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty" - was the ultimate cold warrior. Critics rightly point out that his inexperience and missteps led to subsequent fiascos in the Bay of Pigs and Berlin and also set the stage for the later confrontation with Khrushchev over missiles in Cuba. It was only after the world stepped back from the brink of nuclear war that Kennedy found what supporters hoped would be his real voice on disarmament and nuclear weapons- though we'll never really know because of what happened in Dallas five months after giving his American University commencement speech. Ditto when it comes to his record on civil rights. It was Lyndon Johnson, not JFK, who put equal rights for blacks high on the domestic agenda (though, again, one can argue that LBJ was able to get his civil rights legislation through Congress only because of the Kennedy legacy.
As Der Spiegel correctly notes, there's the image and the reality. "And behind the clich? of Camelot used to describe JFK's brief presidency, there has always been the whiff of deception and envy, scandals and intrigues associated with the clan."
Continue »
Left, Right, In Temporary Truce To Mark Kennedy Passing
(AP / CBS)
Aside from the occasionally uncharitable or outright mean, most commentary marked the event with due respect. In a reflection of the network of personal connections built up over the course of six decades in Washington, a roster of Republican political luminaries offered personal encomiums for their former colleague.
But even the passing of a Senate luminary was accompanied by veiled warnings not to try and retrofit the man's legacy on the current political battle in Washington.
Continue »
The Latest "Flap" Over Our Vacationer-in-Chief
(AP Photo )
The things you have to go through in order to hang out with the beautiful people.
All the president wanted was a peaceful late August on Martha's Vineyard where he could log some quality rest and recreation time with the Michelle and the kids. True, at a reported $35,000 to $50,000 a week at the Blue Heron Farm, this is not your typical recession-era vacation spot. But we are talking about the Vineyard, after all. You want the Real America? Try Bensonhurst in late summer.
But there's no true getting away from the goings-on in Washington. Mr. Obama now finds himself getting grief for his choice of vacation venue. A conservative activist is underwriting a television spot which depicts the Vacationer-in-Chief as out of touch with the needs of the common folk.
Continue »
